Prince George’s House Leader Optimistic About Soccer Study Law and Transit Development Goals

Prince George’s House Leader Optimistic About Soccer Study Law and Transit Development Goals

Press Release March 27, 2009
Griffith Presses For Full Disclosure of Stadium Prospects.

Annapolis, Md. – Prince George’s County House Delegation Chair Melony G. Griffith (D-25) announced today that she is moving forward with legislation authorizing the County Government and Maryland Stadium Authority to decide whether a professional soccer stadium for DC United should anchor an upscale transit-oriented development project.

“Our bill gives the County a fighting chance to join all the other jurisdictions in this state that already have called upon the Maryland Stadium Authority to evaluate similar projects,” Griffith said. “My constituents want to know what the experts think about this one.”

Griffith says she is “unabashedly optimistic” the bill (H.B. 1282) will clear the Maryland House in time for the Senate to take up the plan next week. She already has crafted a series of amendments to the bill to mirror community feedback. Under Griffith’s amendments, the bill:

• Withholds any State investment in building a stadium until a site design, cost estimate, and comprehensive financial plan are complete.
• Creates a public process to study the site design and cost of the stadium.
• Drives attention for a potential stadium to locations that promise a transit-oriented mixed-use development project that planners say is sorely lacking in the County.
• Empowers Prince George’s County Government to study co-location of a county headquarters for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

The amended bill will require the State to pass a second law – perhaps as early as next year – before any public financing can be committed to building a stadium project. Griffith believes that opposition voiced may be well intentioned but fueled by misunderstanding.

“My bill is only about getting good information,” Griffith said, “and we shouldn’t wait until the next recession to find opportunities for Prince George’s County to enhance its commercial tax base. I am not interested in a stadium project for the sake of a stadium project. I want to know if this project will spark development of an employment center at one of our underutilized Metrorail stations.”

Griffith’s proposal has garnered support from some local elected officials and planners. County Executive Jack Johnson testified last week before the House Appropriations Committee that a stadium project would enhance prospects for commercial development at the Morgan Boulevard Station located near FedEx Field. In a recent letter to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority about the proposal, Park and Planning Chairman Samuel J. Parker, Jr., urged the transportation agency to work with County leaders to keep the possibilities open.

“[P]articularly during this time of intense economic challenge, we believe the public interest would be well served if we seize this unique opportunity to spark a redevelopment initiative of major significance for Prince George’s County,” Parker wrote. “The coordinated project would bring hundreds of jobs to an area in serious need and ultimately result in vibrant place where people work, live and play every day.”

According to Griffith, passing her bill is “only a first step in the right direction” to find out if the project really is feasible. The planning process spelled out in the legislation authorizes the Maryland Stadium Authority, DC United and the parks commission to hammer out an agreement to jointly fund a careful study and site design for the proposal.

“The bill by no means makes anything a done deal,” Griffith said. “By my estimation, the community and County leadership will have more than a half-dozen opportunities to vet any plan in public before deciding whether to go forward, and several other occasions to shape the project if it actually gets off the ground.”
“I want to give our taxpayers the benefit of all the best minds working to solve a serious problem for our County’s long-term fiscal health,” she said. “There’s really no good reason to delay a workable process for gathering such critical information.”

For more information, contact:
Gerry Eggleston
301 858-3074
410 841-3074
Prince George’s House Leader Optimistic About Soccer Study Law and Transit Development Goals