'A Bad Chapter In The History Of Quickie-Mart:' Local Skate Shop Must Remove Ramps After Meeting With The City

A long-time Tulsa skate shop is being forced to remove its ramps that are set up in the parking lot after complaints from neighbors.

Quickie-Mart skate shop owners met with the city multiple times to try and come up with a solution, but after a meeting with the Board of Adjustment, they said there was nothing more they could do.

The ramps at Quickie-Mart have been a staple for many in the skating community.

"I really appreciate what Quickie-Mart does for the community," said skateboarder Dakota Jackson. 

Jackson said he used to come and skate on the ramps all the time, but as of Tuesday morning, yellows gates closed them off.

"It kind of hurt for me because I would come up here in the morning and stuff so I would practice right here. Now that it's gone, I feel like it's going to be like not the same," Jackson said. 

For several months, the skate shop battled with the city to keep the ramps because of code violations and noise complaints from neighbors.

"It kind of really ramped up once we got the metal ramps, because yes, that does make a lot more noise when you're pounding skateboards on metal instead of wood, and they're bigger so you know bigger tricks, bigger noise," said Quickie-Mart staff member Heath Sharp.

In a Board of Adjustments meeting on Nov. 18, Quickie-Mart staff proposed a new site plan to help minimize the noise, but without the necessary number of votes, their plan was denied.

"The site plan was to lay out how we were going to downsize the ramps, insulate them, raise the fence height, replace it with a metal fence. Basically, trying to minimize the noise so we're not bothering our neighbors," Sharp said explaining the plan. 

After the meeting, Sharp said the shop must remove the ramps and replace them with others that can be brought indoors when the store is closed.

"This was just kind of a bad chapter in the history of Quickie Mart. I think after we get through this, we're just going to keep moving forward, business as usual, and keep helping our community however we can," said Sharp. 

The shop has 30 days from that Board of Adjustment meeting to remove the metal ramps from the parking lot before the city steps in to clear them.