Iron Gate’s Building Proposal Denied Again By Board Of Adjustment

A downtown relief center for the hungry met another roadblock Thursday in their plan to move and expand, this time it was at the Board of Adjustment.

After Iron Gate was denied zoning for a new location, the group is likely plan to take the case to court.

The Board of Adjustment held a public hearing on the merits of Iron Gate's planned move, even though, from the beginning, they knew how the vote would go.

With only three of five members present, and one of them unable to vote because of a conflict, the remaining two couldn't approve or deny anything.

Iron Gate raised $9 million to build and endow operations for a new cafeteria to serve 300 people each day. It would be substantially larger than the current space inside Trinity Episcopal Church where people spill out on the sidewalk waiting for an early morning meal.

The current situation is what some of the potential new neighbors fear the most.

Attorney Mark Petrich represents the nearby Coliseum Apartments and said, "The minute these residents start seeing in their back yard, across the street, in the parking lot, hanging around, people are intimidated, feel unsafe when they see that."

Other landowners noted the new location is between the on and off ramps for the IDL where cars speed past during morning rush hour when people would be converging on the center.

"My only argument is that this site puts a lot of people on foot on some freeway off ramps,” said downtown land owner Michael Sager.

The board didn't approve the zoning, which Iron Gate expected.

11/16/2016 Related Story: Iron Gate Not Expecting Approval For New Building

“It is impossible for us to get that third vote, so, tomorrow we’re going to get our file stamp rejecting our application so that we can go to district court.”

Neighboring landowners expressed concerns about traffic and the soup kitchen affecting future development.

Following the denial, Iron Gate released a statement addressing concerns raised about the proposed relocation. In it, they address the misconception of crime and traffic saying, in part:

"The area surrounding Iron Gate is safe. I worked as a private security officer for the nearby church for several years and for the most part, we found the guests served by Iron Gate to be orderly and calm. Most minor issues that occurred were easily addressed on site and when we needed assistance, law enforcement was able to address the incidents without any serious inconvenience to neighbors," said Sergeant Chris Witt, owner of COBRA Executive Protection Security consulting business and 30-year member of the Tulsa Police Department.

Iron Gate’s board chairman, Shane Saunders said, "I do appreciate some people who were at least honest, who said, 'We just don't want to see the working poor in our neighborhood.' That's what this boils down to - all of the other arguments tend to be a little red herring in nature."

Following the denial, Iron Gate released a statement addressing concerns raised about the proposed relocation. In it, they address the misconception of crime and traffic saying, in part:

"The area surrounding Iron Gate is safe. I worked as a private security officer for the nearby church for several years and for the most part, we found the guests served by Iron Gate to be orderly and calm. Most minor issues that occurred were easily addressed on site and when we needed assistance, law enforcement was able to address the incidents without any serious inconvenience to neighbors," said Sergeant Chris Witt, owner of COBRA Executive Protection Security consulting business and 30-year member of the Tulsa Police Department.

This is the second time in a little more than a year that the Board of Adjustments has denied Iron Gate’s attempt to relocate.

9/8/2015 Related Story: Iron Gate Soup Kitchen Denied Move To Pearl District

In September 2015, the board voted two in favor, two against a proposal that would have seen Iron Gate move to the Pearl District.

At that point, those against the proposal were concerned about wandering homeless people and crime in the area.

You can read Iron Gate's full statement below.

The Iron Gate Board will have to vote on taking the case to court, but a spokesman said they're confident a judge would rule in their favor.

Iron Gate Statement Addressing Concerns Raised By Tulsa Citizens About Proposed Relocation: