Plans for a billion-dollar entertainment district in Norman were first unveiled in September of 2023.
$600 million of the project would be publicly financed through a TIF district.
Norman’s city council approved advanced the project in September of 2024. That same month, three residents filed a referendum petition to bring the plan back to an election. 10,689 signatures were received.
In the months since, the validity of the referendum petition has been litigated in court.
Q: What’s next in the legal process?
After a Cleveland County District Judge ruled the gist of the referendum petition insufficient in February of this year, proponents of the project were given the all-clear to again move forward.
But, Oklahomans for Responsible Economic Development has fought back, pushing for the project to be taken to a public vote. The group appealed the district court’s decision to Oklahoma’s Supreme Court.
“I am hoping that we will have a favorable return,” said Paul Arcaroli, a board member for ORED. “We’re asking, can we get to decide? Can we get a vote on the money that’s spent? That’s not unreasonable. And if you look at our brief, it’s in the Oklahoma Constitution.”
Q: What was decided on Thursday, Aug. 7?
Cleveland County’s Recreational and Entertainment Facilities Authority held a special meeting Thursday afternoon to approve issuing an RFP (also referred to during the meeting as an RFQ; request for quotes) to build the district’s anchor-point: a new arena for OU basketball.
David Floyd, an attorney for the authority, acknowledged the new update came together quickly.
“What we’re asking you guys to do today is to approve submitting an RFQ,” he said. “We are in the process of developing one. It is not finalized yet, and it’s not been submitted to you all. Once it is ready to go public, it will be publicly available for review and comment.”
Fellow ORED board member and OU economics professor, Cynthia Rogers, said she’s concerned the authority approved a motion with scant details.
“This is surprising because we still don’t know the status of the referendum, it’s sitting at the Supreme Court,” she said. “It’s a little surprising that they approved in a 4 to 0 vote, to issue an RFP, but the RFP doesn’t exist yet. There wasn’t a draft even available for the public.”
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