Tulsa Skate Shop Fights To Keep Outdoor Ramps Amid City Citations

Outside the Quickie-Mart Skate Shop on South Peoria, skateboarders are free to test out their skills on large metal ramps.

It’s a service the shop prides itself on.

“This is a benefit to the neighborhood,” said Heath Sharp with Quickie Mart. 

But in the past few months, Quickie-Mart has been in trouble with the city and recently received a 16-page citation.

“The violations were for, of course, not having permitting for the ramps, they said we were in violation of the sign ordinance with our graphics on the building,” he said. 

Heath Sharp with Quickie-Mart says the shop appealed a list of violations to the Tulsa City Council 3 months ago.

“We mentioned how we’ve been doing skate lessons for over 15 years here, we haven’t had an issue up until we’ve been receiving the noise complaints,” said Sharp.

“The banging noise from the ramp sounds like thunder,” said next-door neighbor Crystal Eijkelenboom.

Those noise complaints have mainly come from Eijkelenboom, who’s lived behind the shop for 6 years.

“We never get any peace, it's all day, every day,” she said. 

She says she has complained more than 60 times since December because of the noise during and after hours, and skaters disturbing her and her family.

“Constant noise, they stand on the ramp, they’ll yell at me and my children,” said Eijkelenboom.

Since the last city council meeting, Heath says they’ve had to fix most of the issues, and must come up with a plan to deaden the noise from the ramps.

“The idea is to build out kind of a sound box, like a speaker would, so it redirects the noise that way,” said Sharp. 

But Crystal doesn’t think anything will change and she just wants the ramps gone.

“I don’t see them actually progressing and doing anything they actually say they're going to do,” she said. 

Heath says they don’t want tension with their neighbors, but say the ramps are vital to their mission.

“We want to be in compliance with the city obviously, we also want to keep our ramps, and we also want to be able to have our skate lessons, and benefit the community,” he said. 

The shop will share its progress at a city council meeting tomorrow. The Board of Adjustments will decide if the shop can keep its ramps at a hearing next month.

Heath says skate lessons will continue with or without the ramps.