Residents Hope To Stop Possibility Of Smoke Shop Coming To Tulsa Neighborhood

Folks who live near 41st and Yale are concerned about a possible smoke shop coming to their neighborhood.

Neighbors are banding together in hopes of stopping the smoke shop from coming, saying it's not commercially zoned so it doesn't belong.

"Who wants an Indian smoke shop sitting in your residential neighborhood," asked resident John Dickmann.

He is one of many residents who believe a smoke shop is coming to the Tulsa neighborhood.

When you drive by, you'll see construction workers removing trees and cleaning up the property. Dickmann said the property's owner wouldn't tell him what was in the works, but the contractors said it’s a smoke shop.

"He first told us that it was gonna be a house or a duplex, and then, pressed a little more, he said 'well, what I'm gonna do is my business. It's Indian land and I can do what I want,'" Dickmann said.

Public records show the property on Winston Avenue is owned by Wolf Voice Enterprises, a company that also owns the Main Street Smoke Shop in Broken Arrow.

The city said the land is currently zoned residential.

Dickmann said a smoke shop would take away the neighborhood's residential charm.

"The impact of traffic on Yale, and the impact of traffic in this neighborhood, and there are children in this neighborhood, and devaluing of our property," he said.

But, Dickmann said the shop would not be enough to force him out of his home of more than 40 years.

"We wouldn't move but we wouldn't like it," he said.

We called Wolf Voice Enterprises but they’ve haven’t called us back.

We also have calls into the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the city to find out if a smoke shop is allowed in the neighborhood.