Norman Leaders Discuss New Entertainment District, Petition Against TIF Plan

City leaders and local business owners in Norman gathered at what is set to be the site of the new Rock Creek Entertainment District.

They're confident it will be built in an open field near 24th Avenue Northwest and West Rock Creek Road.

“This will be a thing that changes Norman,” Mayor Larry Heikkila said.

Recent renderings of the project show off a brand-new OU basketball arena surrounded by a vibrant entertainment district, hotels, and housing. “We can take a piece of property and turn it into a jewel down here that people can come to and have fun and go to games and do all kinds of stuff,” Heikkila said.

However the plan to pay for the project through tax increment financing, or TIF, the district is still facing pushback. A group of Norman residents are currently petitioning to put the TIF plan up for a public vote. “I encourage them not to sign the petition, but that's their right. They're Americans and they're allowed to do that,” Heikkila said. He added he’s not concerned about the outcome if the issue goes to a vote. “Most of the people that I talked to are very positive about it,” he said.

And Mayor Heikkila wants to clear up confusion about the city's investment of public dollars through the TIF. “It is not a $600 million city debt. That is a cap. The public money that goes into this is $230 million. We're 27% of that. The rest is property taxes coming out of the county,” Heikkila said. The rest of the funding is coming from private investors.

As the petition circulates in Norman, those behind the project continue business as usual. “We live on sales tax. Anything I can do to help sales tax grow. If we allowed it to naturally sit down here and develop and just stores come in, we're not going to get the kind of revenues off it as we can if we direct the project,” Heikkila said.

Petitioners have until October 15 to collect 6,200 signatures from registered Norman voters to bring the TIF plan to a public vote.