Kevin Flynn

Opinion contributor

Cincinnati City Council, please do your job and approve the planned development rezoning for the FC Cincinnati stadium plan. I was disappointed and disheartened, but not overly surprised, that City Council is attempting to use its rezoning authority as a club to interject itself in private negotiations between FC Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Ballet as reported by The Enquirer ("FC Cincinnati stadium building delayed after Counsel puts off vote," Feb. 14)

My concern is not about the merits of any dispute between FC Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Ballet. I like both groups. I consider the Cincinnati Ballet one of the gems in the Queen City’s crown. In fact, I promised my wife that we would go to a number of performances this year.

My concern is that council is misusing its rezoning authority to achieve an impermissible extraction from a private entity attempting to make our great city even greater. (If this sounds familiar, it is the same thing I said when I was on City Council and some members of council attempted to stop rezoning for the new Children’s Hospital critical care tower.)

More:PX column: City Council might have to delay FC Cincinnati stadium vote. And that's OK

City Council needs to recognize its obligations under the law. The purposes of rezoning to a planned development district, as is proposed by FC Cincinnati, are spelled out in Chapter 1429 of the Cincinnati Zoning Code. Permissible purposes include: allowing the development of land in a more efficient and economic fashion; ensuring an orderly and thorough planning and review procedure leading to quality design and development; and allowing greater flexibility then the underlying zoning would otherwise allow. The purposes do not include delaying a vote on rezoning to allow council members to extract money from one private party to give to another private party.

Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld is quoted in the article as indicating that he encouraged council to delay its vote in order to "resolve issues," including the Cincinnati Ballet’s lease with FC Cincinnati and the renegotiation of a completed deal with a restaurant that was operating on a month-to-month lease on property that the soccer club purchased. While both issues may be meritorious, they have nothing to do with rezoning.

Meanwhile, this delay is costing valuable construction time needed to make deadlines required by Major League Soccer for completion of the stadium. Even a one-week delay can have significant adverse effects on the overall project.

I urge City Council to do its job, approve the rezoning that was already unanimously approved by the city planning commission and recommended by the city’s development staff, and stop playing political games when your legal duty as members of council is clear.

Kevin Flynn is a former Cincinnati councilman and lives in Mount Airy.