Team lease wording similar
Disputed Bengals deal mirrors old city pact
BY LUCY MAY
and GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerThe very language that the city of Cincinnati objects to in Hamilton County's lease with the Bengals mirrors part of a 1994 agreement between the team and the city, county and Bengals officials said Tuesday.
"This is the pot calling the kettle black," Troy Blackburn, Bengals' director of stadium development, said of recent complaints by the city.
Mr. Blackburn also questions whether city officials are prepared for paying millions in damages if their protests about ramifications of the lease delay stadium construction. The Bengals are guaranteed $4 million for every game they miss in the new facility because of a construction delay, starting with the 2000 NFL opener.
The city-county battle is expanding well beyond the walls of City Hall and the county administration building. On Monday, City Manager John Shirey wrote directly to area business leaders to make the city's case.
These latest developments reflect an intensifying battle between the city and county over the future of Cincinnati's riverfront development.
The city argues that the county's lease with the Bengals gives the team "veto power" over any development project on the western riverfront between the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge and beyond the planned Paul Brown Stadium, which will sit roughly between Central Avenue and a curved Elm Street.
The city bases the argument on language in the lease that states: "County shall make no improvements to the stadium complex without obtaining the prior written consent of team, which may be withheld by team in its reasonable discretion."
The city argues that the "stadium complex" as defined in the lease encompasses the entire riverfront, effectively giving the Bengals control over any development project there.
A 1994 lease between the Bengals and the city - when the city was the landlord and controlled the stadium now known as Cinergy Field - contains this clause:
"Landlord shall not make any substantial change to the improvements and structures existing on the stadium site as shown in the plans and specifications without tenant's prior written consent."
The 1994 city-Bengals lease defines the stadium site as "the area comprising approximately 48 acres of land, more or less, situated between Pete Rose Way and the Ohio River and Race Street and Broadway."
County Administrator David Krings argues that the 1994 language gave the Bengals more authority than the county's lease with the team because the county agreement says the team must be "reasonable" in its objections to development.
"They can't just arbitrarily say no," Mr. Krings said of the county's lease with the team.
Mr. Blackburn said it doesn't matter which language is stronger. "I'm not arguing that both of them did something stupid. I'm arguing that both of them did exactly what makes sense in a large-scale commercial development," he said.
The city argues that the county's deal with the team leases land to the team that the county doesn't even own. Mr. Krings disagrees, but Mr. Blackburn said that the city did exactly the same thing by leasing land to the team in the 1994 agreement that belongs to private property owners - notably produce businessman Robert Castellini. Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls on Tuesday declined to comment because she hadn't had the opportunity to study the entire 1994 agreement.
Mr. Shirey, the city manager, could not be reached for comment. In Mr. Shirey's letter to local business leaders, dated Monday and released to The Enquirer Tuesday, Mr. Shirey writes that recent responses to the city's concerns trivialize the issue.
Presumably, Mr. Shirey was referring to commments made by Hamilton County Commission President Bob Bedinghaus last week in which he chalked up the city's concerns to a political ploy on the part of Ms. Qualls during an election year.
Wrote Mr. Shirey: "What is at stake is a choice about Cincinnati's future - a choice between having a western riverfront with a stadium and a sea of parking lots all round it, or a riverfront that has exciting attractions such as an Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a 3-D - multiscreen theater complex, a riverfront park, and new retail, restaurants and other entertainment along with a stadium complex."
Previous stories
Mayor rips county's deal with Bengals July 4, 1997