By John Dobberstein, Editor
After more than 90 minutes of discussion with the developers, the Broken Arrow Planning Commission Thursday voted to approve the site plans for the proposed Sunset Amphitheater, bringing the $71.5 million project one step closer to reality.
The final planning documents for the 12,500-seat venue will go before the Broken Arrow City Council on March 5. There are other steps that remain, such as the city selling 15 acres of recently acquired property to Notes Live for the project, and the city pushing preliminary infrastructure planning past the finish line.
Notes Live officials spent more than hour fielding questions from Planning Commission members about the traffic flow around the amphitheater, crowd and musician noise, security issues and more.
The city and Oklahoma Department of Transportation are discussing improvements to the intersection of 91st Street and Highway 51 enhance access to the site.
Some roads in the project will be expanded from 2 lanes to 3 with a reversible middle lane to accommodate the heaviest traffic direction.
The city said 38th Street will be widened from 3 lanes to 5, and they are negotiating with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority to add a ramp with direct access from the amphitheater area to the northbound Creek Turnpike. Notes Live believes 78% of the traffic for the shows will be coming via the turnpike.
That will allow much of the traffic to access the turnpike and avoid clogging New Orleans Street.
Robert Mudd, senior vice president of real estate development for Notes Live, said a recent independent study by Younger Associates pegged the amphitheater’s economic impact at $2.6 billion in the first decade of operation, which includes ticket and food and beverage sales as well as likely hotel, restaurant and retail development in the project area.
Mudd also explained the decision to point the stage northeast instead of north or northwest as was planned before. He said consultants measured the impact of the amphitheater in terms of rooftops that would experience a certain level of noise and determined fewer homes would be impacted by pointing the stage northeast.
“So for a long-term strategy to minimize the impact of sound, we strongly believe that a northeast orientation is most favorable orientation,” Mudd said.
Many residents in the area are still upset about the project location, although not nearly as many opponents showed Thursday as compared to the public forum last month.
Pam Schultz, who owns property near the site that’s been in the family for decades, has had numerous discussions with city officials.
“I’m not opposed to it, but I am opposed to the location. I think there needs to be a whole lot more consideration as to where this is going and not stick this in the middle of these established residential places,” Schultz said.
Heather Stanton, who lives north of Northeastern State University’s Broken Arrow campus, said even with Notes Live’s noise mitigation technology, “we’re still going to hear it. In a home I’ve lived in for 23 years, people say to me ‘move.’
“Well, it’s not that easy, “Stanton said. “You don’t just pick up and move from a house that your children raised in that I plan on retiring in or hope to, or live out the rest of my days in. We’re going to hear noise and it’s going to be annoying.”
Planning Commissioner Jason Coan said he understood the concerns but he supported the project after hearing the work put into site selection.
“Obviously a lot of time has been invested into determining the best location,” he said,
“and I just think there’s a really good opportunity for the city of Broken Arrow to continue to be a very desirable place to live with plenty of activities for family.”
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