PX column: Pay no attention to anti-stadium noise. FC Cincinnati is moving forward

Jason Williams | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Tour of FC Cincinnati's West End stadium site After weeks of hints, FC Cincinnati officials Monday unveiled a West End stadium plan. It calls for building an MLS stadium where Taft High School's Stargel Stadium currently stands. The team also would build a new Stargel across from Taft High's entrance.

UPDATE: FC Cincinnati urges City Council to proceed with existing agreement

The weekend started with more commotion about FC Cincinnati's plan to build a stadium in the West End. A small group of anti-stadium rabble-rousers say they plan to launch a petition drive to get the stadium on the November ballot.

More blah-blah-blah noise could be made on Saturday, when another small group of malcontents find out once and for all that FC Cincinnati isn't going to freely pass out seven-figure checks all around the neighborhood.

Pay no attention to any of this noise and carry on with your weekend.

This cacophony is being produced by a handful of attention-starved, powerless agitators who mostly don't even live in the West End. The way they see it, FC Cincinnati is owned by a bunch of millionaires and therefore automatically must have bad intentions. So the antagonists simply want to create chaos and try to delay Major League Soccer's expansion announcement here.

It's a waste of time and energy. FC Cincinnati is moving forward. Nothing will stop the team from building a $200 million privately funded, locally owned stadium behind Taft IT High School. You don't have to like it, but the time for protesting is over. It ended a month ago, when City Council approved spending $34 million for stadium infrastructure and the school board agreed to turn over the land to FC Cincinnati.

Politics Extra: Here's why West End shouldn't turn down FC Cincinnati stadium

Interesting that Brian Garry, Michelle Dillingham and Josh Spring – none of whom live in the West End – want to get a referendum on the November ballot. The issue isn't subject to referendum, based on the stadium ordinance City Council passed last month.

It's too late anyway. By Monday afternoon, the soccer team and West End are expected to have a community benefits agreement officially approved by City Council's budget committee.

The agreement is the last major hurdle before MLS can officially invite Cincinnati into the league. Some NIMBY lawsuits could be on the horizon, but it's hard seeing those wrecking the project. FC Cincinnati isn't tearing down any houses, and quality-of-life issues such as traffic congestion and stadium noise will be addressed in the community benefits agreement.

The West End Community Council's executive committee negotiated the agreement in place. The community council did not officially have anything to do with Saturday's meeting.

Still, some so-called community stakeholders remain unhappy with the current agreement, which in part calls for FC Cincinnati to pay West End organizations $100,000 each year for 30 years. It also requires the creation of a 15-member advisory council to ensure FC Cincinnati lives up to its promises.

In yet another show of good faith, FC Cincinnati officials are willing to have one final meeting with the disgruntled so-called community stakeholders to discuss the possibility of making tweaks to the agreement. The private meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday. (See update on how the meeting went)

700 WLW's Bill Cunningham talked on the air Friday that the group could want FC Cincinnati to pay $15 million upfront to the neighborhood as part of the agreement. If that request happens, FC Cincinnati President Jeff Berding should get up from the table and walk out.

Weeks ago, the club rejected the group's $30 million demand. These extortion efforts being done lately on city development projects need to stop – or else the growth will. But that's an issue for another PX column.

FC Cincinnati doesn't have to meet Saturday. It already has Council's support. It already has the school board's support.

With no control over the land and likely no chance of getting Council to at least delay the community benefits agreement, the anti-stadium folks have no leverage. Just loud mouths.

Politics Extra is a column looking inside Greater Cincinnati and Ohio politics. Follow Enquirer political columnist Jason Williams on Twitter @jwilliamscincy.