Mecklenburg commissioners approve their part of soccer stadium plan, but city bails
Mecklenburg County commissioners voted 5-3 Thursday to move forward with investing $118 million in a soccer stadium to replace Memorial Stadium, only to see Charlotte City Council cancel a vote on its part of the deal.
The vote, following one hour of contentious debate, roughly followed party lines. Five Democrats voted to move forward with the plan for a $175 million stadium. Two Republicans and Democrat Pat Cotham voted against it. Republican Bill James, who was opposed, was absent.
City Council’s cancellation after the county vote on the $175 million stadium threw the deal into limbo. A council majority had been expected to oppose the deal. A “no” decision by the city would have killed the deal.
Mayor Jennifer Roberts said in a statement that “while this (proposal) is very promising, it is clear that we are not prepared to move forward at this time on the current soccer proposal.”
The county’s next moves are unclear. County manager Dena Diorio said she would have no immediate recommendation to her board.
“The county has voted approval to move forward with the stadium deal,” she said. “We don’t have a city partnership right now, so I need to go back and talk to the team ownership to see what they want to do at this point in time.”
The county and city each would have anted up $43.75 million under the proposal before them. The county, which owns the site, would finance another $75 million of the team’s share of construction costs, to be reimbursed over 25 years.
The stadium would be built on the site of the 1930s-era Memorial Stadium, which the county owns.
A Jan. 31 deadline for team investors Bruton Smith and his son Marcus to submit an application for an expansion team to Major League Soccer made for last-minute public debate -- a point that critics, and Mayor Roberts, repeated.
“This is the biggest travesty in governance I’ve ever had anything to do with,” said county commissioner Jim Puckett, who voted no. “This is not the way the peoples’ work should be done.”
Puckett said use of money from the county’s capital budget would leave less for other priorities commissioners have identified, such as for workforce development, pre-kindergarten education and help for the homeless. The 25-year term of the agreement with the soccer team will lock the county into annual payments that may be hard to make in an economic downturn, he added.
Republican Matthew Ridenhour said economic studies have shown publicly-financed stadiums aren’t good deals for taxpayers. Democrat George Dunlap said stadiums are valuable economic development tools.
Democrats who approved of the deal quoted county manager Diorio’s statements that no projects in the current capital budget cycle would be affected by the stadium project.
Commissioner Trevor Fuller calculated that the county’s spending, minus annual reimbursement from the soccer team, would leave the county with a net expense of $3.6 million.
“For $3.6 million spent, we we wind up preserving our history -- we wind up getting a $175 million stadium for $3.6 million,” Fuller said. “I don't know about you, but that's an investment I would make every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
Board Chair Ella Scarborough, a Democrat, harkened to her days on Charlotte City Council when the National Football League awarded a franchise to the Carolina Panthers and the NBA approved the Charlotte Hornets.
“The same (critical) comments I’m hearing around the table, I heard then,” she said. “I have problems with people who complain and also then use the facility.
“I believe that Mecklenburg County is a county that is in competition most of the time with the other larger cities of the United States. When we come to talk about these things, we have the same knee jerk reaction. Mecklenburg County needs professional soccer.”
Following news that Charlotte had canceled its vote, Puckett unsuccessfully asked county commissioners to revisit their morning vote.
“From my perspective, that was kind of irresponsible because now you have no idea who your partners may be,” he said later. “We’ve now said the city is admitting that they don’t have information on a bad deal, and we’re saying it doesn’t matter, we’re going to do it anyway.”
Commissioner Dumont Clarke, who lives in Elizabeth, where Memorial Stadium is located, said the city’s cancellation allows more time for further talks about the proposal.
“It’s not really our (Jan. 31) deadline, it’s the team’s deadline, the investor group’s deadline, and they will have to decide what they do about that,” Clarke said.
“I’m not prepared to support this without the city being a participant in it, unless the team were to step up and say, we’ll pick up that (share) or something. Anything that occurs could change ... in the meantime we have a deteriorating asset that we will continue to do our best to keep from collapsing.”
Charlotte is one of 10 cities, including Raleigh, that want a MLS team.
The short timetable to submit an application by next Tuesday ignited community debate over local spending priorities.
Proponents said joining the league would add Charlotte to a growing, international soccer community, stimulating development near the stadium and helping lure the talented young people that local companies want to hire.
The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority estimated the stadium would produce $41.5 million in new visitor spending each year.
Detractors called the approval process rushed and incomplete. They asked why a billionaire sports family should get nearly $120 million of county money when other needs, such as for school improvements, have been deferred.
Others defended the historic significance of Memorial Stadium, which was built in tribute to World War I soldiers and would be torn down to make way for the soccer facility.
Last month CRVA and the Charlotte Independence, a minor-league soccer team, put on hold a $24 million plan to remake Memorial Stadium.
A survey last weekend of the Elizabeth neighborhood, where the stadium is located, found that 66 percent of residents who responded support the MLS stadium and 23 percent oppose it, the Elizabeth Community Association said.
Bruce Henderson: 704-358-5051, @bhender
Stadium Proposal
▪ The city and county each contribute $43.75 million toward construction, totaling half of the $175 million total cost.
Charlotte’s share would come from hotel/motel occupancy taxes. The county money would come from its capital fund, to which 20 cents of the county property tax rate flows. County officials say the outlay would not affect taxpayers.
▪ Team owners Bruton Smith and his son Marcus pay $12.5 million toward construction. Mecklenburg County fronts $75 million of the team’s share, reimbursed at $4.26 million annually over 25 years. County officials liken the relationship to a landlord – Mecklenburg County – making improvements for an expected tenant.
▪ The team commits to use the stadium for 25 years, but can leave after 15 years if the team is not “economically viable.” The county can recover damages if the team leaves sooner than 25 years.
▪ The team pays $150 million franchise fee to Major League Soccer.
▪ The team controls and operates the stadium, pays operating costs, keeps concession revenue and keeps ticket revenue for events except those hosted by the city or county. The city gets six days’ free use of the stadium a year and the county 14 days.
▪ The team and county each pay $150,000 a year into a capital projects fund. The county is responsible for major upgrades of the stadium scheduled for years 11 and 21.
▪ The team pays for $100,000 study of traffic and parking. The county pays for a $100,000 master plan for neighboring Independence Park, the stadium and surrounding area, and will include a connector from the park to the Little Sugar Creek Greenway in its capital plan.
This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Mecklenburg commissioners approve their part of soccer stadium plan, but city bails."