Politics & Government
Cobb Commission Approves Braves Stadium
The county will commit $300 million for a new ballpark in the Cumberland Mall area.
It's official: Cobb County will become the new home of the Atlanta Braves.
By a 4-1 vote, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a memorandum of understanding to commit $300 million of public funding toward a $672 million baseball stadium in the Cumberland Mall area.
In calling it "the opportunity of a lifetime that we cannot afford to pass up," commissioner JoAnn Birrell summed up the sentiments of stadium supporters, who showed up with blue "Cobb Home of the Braves" shirts and brandished signs with a similar message.
The only dissenting vote was South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid, who strongly objected to the accelerated timetable for the vote. It's been barely two weeks since the deal was publicly announced, and she wanted more time.
Cupid said while she supports the Braves coming to Cobb and wants to be a partner, "under these conditions I cannot be that partner."
She said she received unspecified threats to make it a unanimous vote, but "I will not be bullied into sacrificing my commitment to the people who put me in this position."
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The vote wasn't a surprise -- and the initial audience reaction was somewhat subdued -- but supporters and opponents packed the 200-seat Cobb commission chambers in Marietta more than an hour before the meeting.
They brought signs, clapped and cheered and spoke during an hour-long public comment period before the vote in emphatic terms.
Among those sitting in the front row during the meeting were top Braves officials, including team president John Schuerholz and general manager Frank Wren.
Cobb business leaders and citizens who commented in favor of the stadium recited many familiar arguments, especially about economic development and the opportunity to work with a "world class" organization in the Braves.
But opponents -- and even some supporters -- at least wanted a delay in the vote. Commission chairman Tim Lee rejected those calls and others for a referendum.
Kevin Daniels, an East Cobb resident, said he didn't like the "veil of secrecy" and the rush in voting on the proposal.
Patricia Hay of Mableton pointed out that Cobb recently spent far more time changing its code on backyard chickens than the stadium.
The memorandum of understanding is a "framework" that will allow Cobb officials to continue refining a 30-year agreement with the Braves, who are aiming to begin play in their new Cobb confines in 2017.
That agreement includes a $400 million mixed-use development the Braves will be building next to the stadium, and that team and county officials have said will also provide substantial economic benefits.
"This is a most significant and historic day for our franchise," Schuerholz said after the vote.
The exact stadium location is a 60-acre tract near the interchange of Interstates 75 and 285, and is bordered by Cobb Parkway, Windy Ridge Parkway and Circle 75 Parkway, north of the mall and Cobb Galleria area.
The stadium will be built on 15 of those acres with revenue bonds issued by the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority, which also operates the Galleria and the Cobb Energy Centre.
Anticipating the commission vote, the authority on Monday approved the agreement between Cobb and the Braves by a unanimous vote.
The county will fulfill its repayment of the bonds with $8.7 million in annual funding from existing tax dollars over the 30-year life of the Braves agreement. In addition, a new car rental tax in Cobb and additional taxes in the Cumberland Community Improvement District will be levied.
Commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the stadium area, says he's confident that under the memorandum of understanding, "we're not going to make the same mistake" that some other governing bodies have made in funding sports facilities that have become a drain on taxpayer finances.
The agreement also was amended to place a $35 million cap on the county's obligations in a shared capital maintenance fund for stadium upkeep.
He also said planned transportation improvements in the 285/75 area "are going to help" alleviate traffic in an already congested corridor that in very short order will become the new hub of Braves Country.
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