Parking Problems Plague Some Downtown Tulsa Residents

Downtown Tulsa is exploding with development, from restaurants and clubs to bars and apartments.

One woman who's lived in the Brady District for nearly two decades loves the growth, but she says parking is the pits now. She's received three tickets and wants answers from the city.

The Boston Apartments in the Brady District of downtown Tulsa only have five designated parking spots. Michele Courchesne rarely snags one.

"These are thirty dollar tickets," Courchesne said. "These aren't ten or fifteen dollar tickets."

Courchesne has lived here for about 18 years and has been ticketed three times since in less than a month. 

"There aren't any no parking signs down there, there's also not a "2-hour limited parking" sign there, so I still don't know why I got a parking ticket for parking there," she said.

Tim Cartner with the City of Tulsa oversees parking code enforcement.

"In the Brady District, it is very unique because they don't have lots per say for the apartments, they have two-hour parking zones," Cartner said.

Cartner says he knows the construction boom in the Brady District has limited parking space in the area, but there are parking garages within walking distance.

The parking fines range from $15 to $150. Courchesne feels like the city turns a blind eye to parking violations when big events, concerts and games are downtown.

"There's no signage that says, ‘Well guess what, we'll let you park here when there are activities, but we won't let you park here when there are not,'" Courchesne said.

Cartner says there's no selective enforcement.

"It's indigenous to any downtown area probably of any major city in America that there is limited parking and there's always going to be that, ‘Well, where can I park?'" Cartner said.

While parking may be tight in the Brady District, the city says downtown has more than enough parking spaces.

Cartner says residents will be receiving parking permits very soon that allow them 24-hour access to any legal parking spots on a first come first serve basis. He could not give a specific date on when those permits will be issued.