FC Cincinnati: Team, neighbors agree to benefit pact, then City Council gives its approval

Cincinnati City Council Wednesday night voted to sign off on a community benefits agreement for FC Cincinnati's West End stadium plan. The amended agreement came after nearly 10 hours of negotiations between the team and the neighborhood.

The vote is the last action from City Hill needed to finish the package to build the 21,000-seat soccer stadium. FC Cincinnati now has met the last major requirement outlined by Major League Soccer to secure a franchise in the league.

Council members David Mann and P.G. Sittenfeld said some of the problems that remain in the West End that can’t be solved by a community benefits agreement. They said that responsibility falls to the city, and the city is ready to take the right steps forward.

Negotiations for the benefits agreement between the team and representatives from the West End began at 8 a.m. today.

The negotiations continued through the scheduled times for a special session of the Budget and Finance Committee and the regular City Council session.

Kristen Myers, the lawyer representing the community council, rushed into the negotiation room at around 4:30 p.m, telling reporters “we’re close.” At 5:23 p.m., a new deal was signed, letting City Council get back in the action.

By 6:04 p.m., council had passed the deal by a vote of 7-0. Councilmen Chris Seelbach and Greg Landsman were absent.

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"The community did not get everything they wanted…but we have found a path forward," Myers said, noting the goal was to improve a draft of the community benefits agreement championed by Councilman Jeff Pastor last month.

In fact, what was signed Wednesday was a term sheet amending that original agreement.

FC Cincinnati general manager Jeff Berding said that the team went into the talks "wanting to be good neighbors and wanting to be a catalyst for change.”

One major change to the agreement approved Wednesday was the West End Community Council is now a full party to the contract instead of a third-party beneficiary.

Myers said this change along with others will allow the community "to enforce the agreement and to really be at the table in a more meaningful way."

She said a $100,000 housing study and additional money toward community engagement help, but those will remain a concern for residents.

"Housing issues are probably one of the biggest issues for the community here, especially for low-income residents," Myers said.

The draft agreement made several promises to the community:

The team will pay $100,000 annually for 30 years to West End organizations.

The team will transfer options it holds on West End land to the redevelopment authority to build "affordable mixed-income market-rate housing."

Prevailing wages will be paid to stadium construction workers.

For construction, the team will commit to hiring 25 percent minority-owned businesses, 7 percent women-owned businesses and 30 percent small businesses.

West End businesses will be preferred for any contract.

The team will work to give those in low-income areas, including the West End, the first chance at jobs, including those with criminal records.

The team will consult with the community to provide protections in regards to parking, stadium design, security, beautification and the creation of a complaint process.

A $20,000 entrepreneurship program at Mortar, a minority-owned business development service based in Over-the-Rhine, will be offered to West End residents.

A scholarship program will be established for students at West End Schools.

A West End Athletic Association will be formed to promote athletics in the neighborhood.

These promises remain in place along with additional commitments to affordable housing, the West End Business Association and employment opportunities.

“This is the right thing for the city. The right thing for the West End, and the right thing for the future of our region," Mayor John Cranley said. "It’s the fastest growing sport in the country, and we’re in at the beginning of a big future for Major League Soccer and FC Cincinnati.”

Former mayor Mark Mallory, a longtime West End resident who was retained by the team as an advisor, said it was the "biggest single investment that’s ever been made in that community."

How we got here

If City Council's approves the benefits agreement, the only thing that stands in the way of FC Cincinnati's Major League Soccer bid is MLS itself.

The deal has been months in the making and hinged on FC Cincinnati's insistence that a soccer-specific stadium was needed to get in the league.

The team tried a plan in Oakley, going as far as getting City Council approval, but then abandoned it.

Cincinnati's school board dug in its heels and got a commitment of about $25 million in payments in lieu of taxes from the team.

West End residents have filed a petition to impeach their community council president, in part, because he signed onto a community benefits agreement without their consent and after resident voted overwhelmingly against putting a stadium in their neighborhood.

Those opposed to putting a stadium in West End have fought it every step of the way, shouting "Shame!" at school board members and paying dues for more than 100 people to influence West End Community Council votes.

City Council's approval of infrastructure funding narrowly passed, and critics recounted a history of broken promises to West End. Other accused City Council of gentrifying the neighborhood while ignoring its residents.

But the ordinance called for a community benefits agreement to be signed before any city money would be released to FC Cincinnati, which is why Wednesday's vote was necessary.

This week, an anti-stadium group attempted to put the city's funding ordinance on the November ballot with a referendum, which would have delayed the project months, or stopped it all together. But the city's law department said the legislation is not subject to referendum.

Then Wednesday morning, the community sent six community council members and a lawyer to negotiate changes to the community benefits agreement drafted earlier.

What's next

Now, FC Cincinnati will meet with MLS and try to secure its bid to the league. The league has given no timeline on when it will finalize its decision on expansion teams.

If the team is accepted to the league, Taft IT High School's Stargel Stadium would be torn down and replaced at a new site at the intersection of Ezzard Charles Drive and John Street, across from the school. The new FC Cincinnati stadium will be built on the current Stargel site.