Last Updated on April 9, 2024, 2:04 PM | Published: April 9, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — The application for a change in zoning to allow the development of Sunset Amphitheater near residential neighborhoods in far west Oklahoma City failed in the Oklahoma City Council Tuesday.
Current ordinances will not allow the project.
The controversial $90 million proposal by Notes Live based in Colorado Springs has drawn a strong response from over 300 people who live the closest to the proposed project site.
After all public comments for and against, a motion to deny the application, which would kill the project as it is being proposed, was voted for by all on the Council except for Councilman Bradley Carter from neighboring Ward 1 and by Councilman Mark Stonecipher, Ward 8.
The project is denied by the City of Oklahoma City.
Heavy arguments against
In Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the Council Chamber filled with people wearing t-shirts, buttons, or both that showed opposition to the proposal.
A further sign that the proposal was coming unraveled was when Ward 3 City Councilwoman Barbara Peck, whose ward the project is in, gave a short rundown of the process and the massive protest calls and letters they had seen at City Hall. Peck then stated that she had decided to make a motion to deny the application.
Peck said that as of Friday’s cutoff, “there have been 280 contacts in protest [of the project] and less than 70 in support to our Council office.”
Since there were so many signed up to speak against, Mayor David Holt proposed to the crowd that they would allow him to register that they were against the proposal by raising their hand.
The against crowd seemed okay with that and the Mayor began working through the slips of those who had signed up to speak. Each person called had the option to raise their hand if they were against the proposed development.
Some chose to speak anyway when they were called upon. Two spoke in favor of the project claiming to have many more also in support who were not there.
The rest of those who spoke and raised their hand were against the project, citing the possibility of an increase in noise, traffic, and possibly drawing of increased crime to the area.
About the Zoo Amphitheatre
Those who have been in favor of the proposal have appealed to the presence of the Zoo Amphitheatre on N. MLK in Oklahoma City, arguing that there are no problems with concerts and the neighbors there.
To that point, Ward 7 Councilwoman Nikki Nice opposed the notion that everything is just fine around the Zoo Amphitheatre in her ward.
The Zoo Amphitheatre is one of several live music venues either open or opening in the OKC metro.
“The Zoo Amphitheatre was built between 1933 and 1936 before the neighborhood even came,” said Nice. “So it does set a little bit of a precedent, but that does not mean that this neighborhood is unharmed.”
“This neighborhood has been in quite some distress for some time,” said Nice about the neighborhood around the Zoo.
Nice pointed out that for years, neighbors for a mile around the Zoo have complained about the noise intrusion and those who live close by have complained about the traffic loads in the area.
She said City Hall has had “constant calls” about the problems with the Zoo Amphitheatre.
Nice said she lives “about a mile away from the Zoo and I can hear it at my house.”
“If we say we don’t want these things everywhere, let’s say we don’t want these things in our neighborhoods all over, not just in specific communities and areas,” said Nice to spontaneous applause.
Nice closed by asking the residents around the proposed Sunset Amphitheater to support residents in her area with their concerns as well.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
