Group Protests Sunset Amphitheatre In SW OKC

Opposition is growing against a proposed outdoor music venue in southwest Oklahoma City.

The Sunset Amphitheater at Mustang Creek passed the planning commission unanimously and now awaits approval from the city council to move forward. However, a group protesting the development hopes to stop that from happening.

“This will be in my backyard,” said Melissa Lafave.

Lafave lives along Sara Road and backs up to where developers hope to build the amphitheater. “I feel like the family-friendly, family-oriented atmosphere that's being promoted is not accurate,” she said. “This is not an environment that I would take my child to.”

Lafave and fellow resident Kristen Bruce are part of the Mustang Creek Family Fund, a group opposed to the outdoor music venue. “It's unacceptable to hear and feel in my home a base frequency when we're trying to enjoy family time in the evening or put my children to bed,” Bruce said.

The group held protests on Friday at five different locations near the proposed site at Southwest 15th Street and Sara Road. “This is a community, this is a residential area, 3,800 plus households are in a one-mile radius that's a lot of people to be affected,” said Lafave.

Lafave says it will also be built directly behind an elementary school and middle school. “Semis pulling in and out, the sound, the disruption,” Lafave said. “Are our kids going to be playing in the playground while this is all going on, I don't know.”   

Developers of the project hope to bring world-class entertainment to the outdoor arena that would hold 12,500. The venue would offer upper and lower seating, as well as luxury suites with fire pits. However, for those who live nearby, they say they worry about noise and traffic along two-lane roads that are already congested.

“Once people start to realize how big it is the noise that is going to be intruding onto their home the traffic that is going to be bottlenecked on Sara which is a two-lane road, people are definitely agreeing that this is not ok here, that this is not going to benefit or help the people that are living around here,” said Bruce.

In a statement to News 9, Carol Hefner says “As developers of the Mustang Creek Crossing, we are excited to bring multi-generational experiences and venues to enrich the quality of life, add hundreds of jobs, contribute millions of dollars to support for schools and fund infrastructure projects.”

While this group says they're not opposed to development, they say this one isn't the right fit.

“We would love to see something there that would actually benefit the people that would actually bring enrichment to the culture and to our neighborhoods and people that live here,” Bruce said.

For more information on the Mustang Creek Family Fund, click here: https://www.norezone.net/

For more information on the Sunset Amphitheater at Mustang Creek, click here: https://noteslive.vip/properties/okcsunset/

The development is expected to go before the Oklahoma City Council on April 9. Hefner says the project is asking for no money from the city.