‘It’s ludicrous!:’ Residents voice concerns over proposed baseball stadium in Leland
LELAND, NC (WWAY) — Many people in northern Brunswick County are not lookin to have a home team advantage when it comes to bringing a baseball stadium to the area.
It was a packed house in council chambers on Thursday night as town staff in Leland presented town council with the feasibility study revealing the potential costs and economic impacts of a proposed baseball stadium.
Earlier this year, emails revealed REV Entertainment and the Texas Rangers started conversations with the town about bringing a minor league baseball team to northern Brunswick County.
After council was presented with the study, members of the community shared their thoughts during the public comment portion of the meeting.
“Why are we going to add more traffic, noise, pollution, and destroy the quality of life? There are no quality benefits to this project, only quality deficits. I ask you to represent us and not REV Entertainment,” Rhonda Florian said during the meeting.
The study found it would cost about $105 million to build the stadium and develop the site. It also included the potential impacts of the build out of the entire Jackeys Creek Development, which would include hotels, retail and office space, restaurants, housing, and medical offices. The full build out of the stadium and development would be nearly $2.4 billion.
“Those houses are going to be built regardless. That hospital, if it’s needed, they’ll get a certificate of need and it will be built,” Chuck Whitlock said during the meeting. “But you don’t need to build a ballpark in order to have all those things.”
The proposed site for the stadium and development is along Highway 17 near Brunswick Forest. The land is not currently in the Town of Leland, but it could be annexed. Despite the moratorium currently placed on the town preventing annexations, discussions on this project began before the restrictions took effect.
Council did not take any action on the presentation. Staff will continue reviewing the plans and bring more information to council at a later date.
