Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks reports from Tuesday’s Kansas City plan commission meeting, where after an hour of discussion, requests for rezoning and changes to a land-use plan were approved on the 467-acre development that includes a new soccer complex.
The Kansas City Wizards and their investors are asking for a $273 million subsidy for a project that includes a Wizards’ stadium, 12 adjacent youth fields and more than 1.1 million square feet of retail and office space. A hotel is also included in the plans. Encouragingly, a city planning commission signed off on the project on Tuesday. The matter now goes before a Tax Increment Financing Commission, which must deem the surrounding area “blighted.” Then, the Kansas City Council and the Missouri General Assembly must approve it after that.
Hendricks attended the planning commission meeting and found it odd that no mention was made of the MLS team’s on-field success. “When investing in something like professional sports, taxpayers ought to feel confident that they aren’t backing a perennial loser,” he said. He points out that the Wizards are far from a losing team: in fact, if the team manages to get past Houston on Saturday, it would be appearing in the MLS Cup final for the third time in eight years. The planning commission might not have been aware of that, which is too bad — especially when you consider what a barren few years it’s been for Kansas City sports.