Long before ground is broken on the Browns’ planned $2.4 billion domed stadium in suburban Brook Park, Ohio, the club has faced a series of legal and financial obstacles to the project. Now, yet another hurdle is coming through the air, so to speak.
The NFL team has received formal notice from the Ohio Department of Transportation that it is not issuing a permit for the planned Brook Park stadium because it would interfere with air traffic at nearby Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The Browns, owned by Haslam Sports Group, plan to recess the stadium about 80 feet into the ground, but still top out at 221 feet above ground. That plan, however, is 58 feet higher than the maximum allowable height for that location, according to ODOT’s aviation office.
“Please contact our office to request a permit at these reduced heights,” ODOT wrote in a letter to HSG representatives. “This structure may also be permitted at your proposed height at another location further away from the airport.”
The Browns and HSG say they are “confused” by ODOT’s notice, and the basis for it, particularly given that they already received Federal Aviation Administration clearance for the project—provided there are red lights on the roof to help guide passing pilots. The FAA, however, has no jurisdiction over local zoning.
The team has a series of options in addition to altering the stadium plan, including requesting a formal appeal of the ruling.
“We’ve already begun working collaboratively with ODOT to explain the stadium’s heights and the detailed work we’ve done more fully, which shows no safety or efficiency issues to the airport,” said HSG spokesman Peter John-Baptiste in a statement. “We look forward to resolving this matter expeditiously and continuing our work to bring this transformative project to Northeast Ohio.”
Myriad Issues
Late last month, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said there is “a 99.9% chance” of the Brook Park stadium happening while also acknowledging inherent difficulties around the effort.
“This is a complicated project,” Haslam said. “There’s stuff going on. It’s three and a half years until the stadium opens, and we will have to work hard every day to get everything to come together.”
Other issues surrounding the stadium include a lawsuit challenging the use of unclaimed state funds to support public construction bonds. The city of Cleveland is also fighting the team’s planned departure from the downtown Huntington Bank Field, and some local media are suggesting that Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb is behind the new, aviation-related issue.
“Who runs the airport? The city of Cleveland, Mayor Justin Bibb,” said Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn. “I think Mayor Justin Bibb has come up with the winning strategy to block this thing because he’s dead set against it.”
Bibb has not acknowledged that, but Cuyahoga County executive Chris Ronayne, another opponent of the Brook Park stadium, also was critical of the potential impact on the airport.
“We cannot emphasize enough that downtown Cleveland is the best location for the stadium, both for the team and the residents of Cuyahoga County,” he said.
QB Decision
The Browns, meanwhile, said Monday that veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, 40, will be the team’s Week 1 starter, ending what had been building intrigue around the decision.
The team has a particularly crowded quarterback room that includes fifth-round draft pick Shedeur Sanders.
