New ARENA as part of entertainment District

[SoonerBounce13]

this tif is incredibly shady and straight up rotten for norman. the lack of exact details in the final plan, and the process for how this went down and forced through really riled up a lot of people. over 11k signatures? wow. the councilors who voted yes, the mayor, the joe’s played this all wrong. the sec argument was so disingenuous and ridiculous. people do not like this tif. they do not like giving business developers our tax money over 25 years to build a pipe dream of an entertainment district. so freaking laughable.

in fact, this is going so poorly for the entertainment/business development aspect, that i really believe norman voters would be accepting of a new arena alone (no entertainment district. build the arena, businesses will come.) with a good faith effort from all sides involved. my councilwoman stated she was for an arena, but not with this version of the tif. and i couldn’t agree with her more. i think there is a market for 3-5k seat concert venue in the okc/moore/norman area. it sucks for OU basketball, i know. i want a new arena. but not when a few councilmen think have some mandate, and not when a university president and athletic director think they know better than the voters as to what is best for our city.

the mayor’s days are numbered. this was so freaking shady. well done nompton. see you at the polls.

lol wow

 

[Sooner04]

I signed the petition. I want to see it come to a vote by the people.

 

[CoachTalk]

Norman city continues to hate Oklahoma. One of The main reasons it exists.

 

[jdizzle34]

Hopefully OU is planning a contingency now.

 

[red recluse]

I have it from a board member directly that the council is upset. What I was told is it was truly an 8-1 vote for the project. Behind close doors they made deals to keep some of the members residents happy they publicly voted against but made sure it passed. They thought they would never get the signatures. This could get interesting if people start talking or behind close doors records somehow gets out like before.

unfortunate if true. happy it’s going to a vote. can’t say i was all in, but the leaked city attorney letter raised major concerns for me.

 

[jdizzle34]

unfortunate if true. happy it’s going to a vote. can’t say i was all in, but the leaked city attorney letter raised major concerns for me.

Didn't that same letter also state that City contributions are dependent on the non-arena portion also being built?

 

[IndySooner]

Take it to Moore. Norman doesn’t deserve it.

 

[red recluse]

Didn't that same letter also state that City contributions are dependent on the non-arena portion also being built?

in that they needed to be tied together? my extremely basic understanding was that the 2031 deadline was removed and so was the developer’s obligation to build anything other than the arena and parking garage.

 

[Lexsooner]

Take it Moore or Noble then Norman residents are dumb

 

[aliasou]

It will never pass in any form that isn’t 100% financed by the university. The amount of hatred residents have for the university is insane and it’s embarrassing. I’m not saying the TIF was what should have been pushed forward, but the vehement activists who fought against it are the reason I am finally thinking of moving. I have lived in Norman for 24 years, but the opposition to any growth and the idea that the 3rd largest city in the state can stay a sleep little college town is getting really annoying. *edit Also, following the initial surge when target came in, there has been very little development in that corridor in 20 years and there is very little chance there is enough development in the next 25 years to make up the potential the new district could bring.