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Video billboard controversy heats up

Posted at 10:31 PM, Aug 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-14 10:57:28-04

It's already up and running -- so, what's next for the neighbors who live next to the giant video billboard that lights up the night at 41st and Yale?

2 Works for You was the first to show you crews working into early morning hours to get the billboard built in a matter of days.

So far, no legal action yet, but neighbors could be meeting as early as this week to figure out what they can do.

One city councilor said because you can build a billboard here doesn't mean you should.

Developers of this billboard at 41st and Yale getting called out by Tulsa City Council member Ben Kimbro last week and it made its way around social media.

Now, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation demanding an apology for what he said about the tribe.

"I was very frustrated with them and I remain frustrated," Kimbro said. "I think there's a way to be good community partners. Certainly in a moment of frustration used terminology to describe their actions that I shouldn't have."

The property in question is this piece of land where the billboard stands at 40th and Yale.

Records obtained by 2 Works for You show the land is classified as restricted tribal land, purchased by an individual owner from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Because it's restricted land, this means it's immune from state and local regulations.

"They're very disappointed to have a 62-foot motion led billboard turned up brighter than what City of Tulsa sign code would allow for if in fact it could be permitted," Kimbro said.

A letter from the BLA sent to an attorney representing a homeowner in the neighborhood where the video billboard is going up says the only way the federal agency would intervene is if the owner decides to lease out the land or a city or utility company needed to build on it. 

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