Judge Hears Arguments on Both Sides of Jenks Baseball Park Development Issue

Disagreements about plans for a baseball park development in Jenks have made their way to court. 

The developer of the project at 106th and Elm is suing a group of people trying to put the issue before voters. 

A Tulsa County judge on Thursday heard from both sides of the issue for more than two hours and ultimately decided attorneys need to write up their findings, and the judge hopes to make a decision about the petition in a few weeks. 

A group of people with the "Jenks Coalition for Smart Growth" wants to see the development issue go to a citywide election. 

But the developer argues in a civil lawsuit the way that the group collected signatures for the petition this summer was misleading. 

The developer says right now, plans for 106th and Elm involve 10 baseball fields, practice fields, and batting cages along with greenspace. 

The coalition said in court documents in a response to the lawsuit that the developer and city are trying to downplay the project's scope and argue that the "Ripken Experience" would involve restaurants, hotels, and other commercial development. 

A Jenks woman took the witness stand Thursday to express she felt misled when approached to sign the petition and later asked for her name to be removed from the signature list when she learned about plans for greenspace and walking trails. 

The Director of Planning for the City of Jenks also testified in court on Thursday about zoning and what can and can’t happen on that property, emphasizing that it is zoned as agricultural land and cannot have hotels, restaurants, or other commercial development. 

The developer's attorney said in court the developer hopes to add hotel and retail space within walking distance from the ball fields, but that would be isolated to a five-acre area separate from the property in question now. 

The City of Jenks said it would have no comment on the court hearing.