Mustang NIMBYs score victory over Crazy Carol Hefner’s amphitheater project…

It looks like there’s only going to be one amphitheater in town controlled and operated by shady out-of-state venture capitalists with questionable resumes.

Well, at least for now.

Thanks to a staunch opposition effort put together by people who don’t want the distorted sounds of outdoor events to drown out the chorus of cars traveling down a nearby highway, the Oklahoma City Council voted down a request yesterday to rezone vacant land near SW 15th and the Kilpatrick Turnpike for a scammy amphitheater project being pushed by the right-wing socialite Crazy Carol Hefner and some fast-talking rich dude from Colorado. 

Although he seemed annoyed by the number of yellow button-clad citizens who wanted to speak to the council and voice their opposition to the development, Dean Mayor McSelfie was one of seven council members to vote against the rezoning. 

Yikes! I guess all it takes is Crazy Carol Hefner to be involved in a project to turn McSelfie into an anti-growth, anti-development mayor! Who know it was that simple!

Here are some details about everything via The Oklahoman:

Nearly every hand went up Tuesday morning when Mayor David Holt asked a packed city council crowd who was there to oppose the Sunset Amphitheater.

The visual was an overwhelming display of local sentiment. Neighbors in this geographically odd corner of the city, where they can have a Yukon address, send their children to Mustang Schools and get their utilities from Oklahoma City, organized and rallied against a project they believed would disturb their peace.

By outright denying the request to rezone property for the amphitheater, the Oklahoma City Council sunk plans by developers and investors to build a $100 million, 12,500-seat venue touted as a venue with outdoor amenities like luxury firepit suites, a landscaped grass berm and traditional reserved seating for concerts and other events.

First of all, let’s give it up to the people in the "geographically odd corners” of Oklahoma City!

In this day and age, when rich people from out-of-state can seemingly swoop into town and do whatever they want with our amphitheaters, it’s neat to see suburbanites rally together and stick it to the man!

If I was NIMBY with an Edmond address who sends my kid to Deer Creek schools and gets my utilities from Oklahoma City, I’d be taking notes for when the next time some amphitheater – or affordable housing development – tries to move in next door!

Now that the amphitheater rezoning has been voted down, it will be interesting to see what happens next with the project. 

Over the past six months, JW Roth – the dude from Colorado who is behind both the Mustang proposal and a similar one in Broken Arrow – has been heavily advertising in the newspaper and on television to both sway public opinion and get rich old folks to fork over $200,000 in non-refundable deposits for fire pit suites…

Yep, that’s right. They were promising an oddly specific 19.6% return on a $200,000 fire pit investment for an amphitheater that wasn’t built yet. That sounds totally realistic and is not in any way some form of securities fraud. 

In fact, 18% seems low! Fire pit suites at an outdoor amphitheater in Oklahoma City in the middle of July would literally be the hottest ticket in town!

“Man, Matchbox 20 is great! Outside of that wreck on the turnpike and Tim dying from heat stroke, that was an awesome show!”

In addition to booking ads, the amphitheater folks hired Crazy Carol Hefner to be the pitchwoman for the project. This is because either she’s great at sales, or her dad owned the land where the project was going to be located.

Regardless of how she got the job, Carol tried everything possible to get her former Rose Creek neighbors to lay down $200,000 on suites. This included emailing, spamming, and DMing wealthy folks around town invitations to dinner at Mickey Mantle's Steakhouse to view a presentation.

She also wrote editorials in the newspaper supporting the project that would enrich her and her family.

I have no clue what the next step is for Carol, JW Roth, and any other people who had the genius idea to build a giant amphitheater across the turnpike from a housing development in Mustang. 

Will they abandon the project and simply focus on the scheme in Broken Arrow, or will they take the fight to NIMBYs in some other geographically odd corner of the city?

According to a Facebook exchange with one of her friends, Carol promised good things are coming…

The Mustang NIMBYs may have lost their voice – whatever that means – but at least they’ll still be able to hear the cars, trucks, and motorcycles traveling down the turnpike at night... for now. 

Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.