By John Dobberstein, Editor
Despite last-ditch appeals from a handful of residents concerned about traffic and noise, developers cleared the final regulatory hurdles for construction of the $71.5 million Sunset Amphitheater in Broken Arrow.
The City Council unanimously approved the final site plan Tuesday for the 12,500-seat facility, and the city sold 15 acres of land to Sunset at Broken Arrow LLC, a subsidiary to Colorado Springs-based Notes Live, for $577,000. The city will, for now, retain ownership of the remaining 26 acres of property for additional development.
As long as the city’s $28 million in infrastructure work around the park is completed on time and no unforeseen challenges emerge, construction on the amphitheater could begin this summer. Notes Lives envisions the amphitheater opening next year in time for the summer touring season. A groundbreaking is expected sometime this spring.
Because of the construction, the Broken Arrow Events Park will be closed for events starting May 31 as the city and contractors prepare to begin construction work.. Live music industry giant Live Nation has been chosen as the operator for the amphitheater.
“Broken Arrow is exactly the kind of place we like to build — the kind of place that has ‘everything,’ besides a place for major national acts to come play music outdoors,” said Notes Live Chairman and CEO J.W. Roth. “The Sunset is being developed through a true public-private partnership, and we’re excited to get even more involved with Broken Arrow’s extremely vibrant community.”
Broken Arrow Mayor Debra Wimpee predicts the venue will “not only draw first class musical acts to Broken Arrow for citizens and visitors, but also attract future development opportunities, generate jobs, and enhance the tax base which will benefit our city and region.”
Opposition to this recreational project wasn’t as fervent as it was with proposed Bell’s Amusement Park development in 2022, which was slated for property a few miles north of the amphitheater site. But some residents living near the Events Park are clearly still concerned about disruptions to their daily life.
Broken Arrow resident Carolyn Hubert, who lives along 101st Street east of the amphitheater site, said she was still concerned about the impact of traffic movements around the amphitheater. “We’ve lived there (near 101st Street) for 40 years. We moved there when the road was dirt, so we’ve seen a lot of things,” she said.
Wimpee said part of the reason the city is spending money on the infrastructure around the site is to keep motorists coming and going from the venue off of 101st Street.
City Manager Michael Spurgeon said he and Assistant City Manager Ken Schwab met with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and Oklahoma Department of Transportation last week about creating access from the amphitheater site onto the Creek Turnpike, “and that portion of the meeting went very, very well,” Spurgeon said.
The city will also be building a new road that will connect the amphitheater road system to Gary Street, which will tie into Highway 51 utilizing a re-aligned intersection.
The city is also adding an extra lane to 101st Street from the Creek Turnpike entrance east through the amphitheater area to address any cars stacking to make turns. “We need to make sure that it’s clear and safe for those people that live there, as well as those going to the amphitheater,” Spurgeon said.
Pam Schultz, who lives next to the industrial park northeast of the amphitheater site, implored city officials to do anything possible to reduce the noise from concerts from disturbing homeowners. She has asked the city to consider another location and expressed disappointment that the stage would be facing northeast toward her home.
“Why do we not matter?” Schultz asked. “There are no homes north of the amphitheater. Why not face the amphitheater north instead of northeast? So the loudest sound and frequency won’t be directed right towards us?
“Can someone please explain what the difference is between a loud neighbor disturbing the peace and the amphitheater bringing noise into our homes and disturbing the peace?”
Originally Notes Live’s plan was to point the stage to the northwest to direct the sound toward the turnpike. But after evaluating the surrounding properties the design was changed for the stage to face northeast. City officials said pointing the stage northwest would have impacted far more homes than the current plan and pointing it north would have made the site footprint too big for the allotted area.
Notes Live representatives have also said the stage location was meant to curtail the travel of higher-frequency sounds. Other structures that are part of the development will also serve as a buffer, they said.
Schultz said the estimations of from Notes Live’s noise assessment were only theories and not relevant to her situation. But City Council Justin Green replied that he is a musician in his spare time and noise assessments are based on factual information gleaned from other similar venues.
“We definitely understand your concern and we validate that concern. And I can assure you that we’ve all thought about it, as has the city staff working on this project,” Green said. “The assistant city managers to everyone from Notes Live has thought about this thoroughly and are doing their best to ensure that it’s not going to disturb the neighbors.”
“I just want to say that we would like to ask the city to please protect the citizens of Broken Arrow from the amphitheater getting the sound into our homes and disturbing the peace,” Schultz said.
Leave a Reply