NORMAN — Following through on promises made in March, the Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development have sued to stop the $1.1 billion Rock Creek Entertainment District from moving forward.
The Rock Creek Entertainment District is set to become the new home of the University of Oklahoma basketball and gymnastics through a brand new, multi-purpose 8,000-seat arena surrounded by hotels, restaurants, retail and housing. Developers broke ground on the project one month ago.
The Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development and 44 individual plaintiffs filed the lawsuit last week against the city of Norman, the Norman Tax Increment Finance Authority, the Cleveland County Recreational and Entertainment Facilities Authority and University North Park, LLC.
University North Park, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Oklahoma Foundation and the primary landowner and core developer of the Rock Creek Entertainment District.
In 2024, the Norman City Council created two TIF districts, one for sales tax and another for property tax, to support the 269-acre development. The lawsuit comes just months after ORED lost an appeal to the Oklahoma Supreme Court over an attempted citywide referendum, which would have repealed the TIF districts and sent them to a vote of the people.
Case briefs have yet to be filed, but a March 6 letter outlined ORED’s grounds for bringing the lawsuit, citing tax increment financing restrictions and Open Meetings Act violations.
Norman insisted the TIF districts were “invalid and unconstitutional” due to a section of the Oklahoma Constitution which says TIF districts can only be used for historic preservation, reinvestment or commercial areas experiencing “economic stagnation or decline.”
However, the TIF districts are located within University North Park, which is frequently touted as “one of the most vibrant, dynamic retail shopping and development areas” in Oklahoma, Norman wrote.
According to Norman, a state statute also requires TIF districts to be used in areas where investment, development and economic growth would not have otherwise occurred.
“The University North Park area is clearly developing, growing, and vibrant these days on its own, free of any TIF increment assistance,” Norman wrote. “Businesses continue to locate and thrive in University North Park, both North and South of Rock Creek Road. The growth and business activity in UNP has been more vibrant than in virtually any other area of Norman.”
Norman also argued that Norman City Council meetings designed for public comment on the Rock Creek Entertainment District were not appropriately open to the public, referencing reports of OU students paid to attend and fill seats in the council chamber.
“The presence of these students was presented falsely as a case of the students’ attending merely as interested members of the public participating in democracy,” Norman wrote. “The attendance of these students under undisclosed, illegitimate circumstances kept many legitimately interested citizens from being able to observe, attend, and meaningfully participate in the meeting.”
In the letter, ORED attorney Rob Norman promised to sue if the city did not repeal the TIF districts and put the project to a public vote and if Cleveland County and University North Park, LLC, continued to move forward with development efforts.
“It appears that the county and County Authority are racing to set the project in stone,” Norman wrote, “are speaking of lawsuits against the city, and are otherwise doing whatever it takes to keep the city from giving the people of Norman a voice in whether the Arena TIF Project happens. This is unacceptable.”
During a Norman City Council meeting in April, the council did not pursue an agenda item that would have looked into whether the council has the authority to send the TIF districts to a vote of the people.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source journalrecord.com ’
