CL Take · Opinion · Original
Kansas and Wyandotte County Settle Chiefs Stadium Lawsuit, Clearing the Way in KCK
Chiefs Kingdom, one of the biggest roadblocks to the new stadium in Kansas just came down.
Gov. Laura Kelly and Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor Christal Watson announced Friday that the state and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County have worked out their differences over the stadium project, KCTV5 and FOX4 reported. As part of the agreement, the Unified Government will drop the lawsuit it filed against the state on Oct. 9, dismissing it without prejudice.
That suit went after House Bill 2466, the law that created the Kansas Sports Facilities Authority. Local leaders argued it took away their say over taxes, zoning and the county's public utility, the Board of Public Utilities (BPU), for the stadium district. They also said from the start that they weren't trying to stop the stadium.
Here's how the deal splits things up, per KCTV5. The stadium and its parking will be state property owned by the Sports Facilities Authority, outside local zoning and building codes, and leased to the Chiefs for $7 million a year. The county and BPU keep control of the development around the stadium, including planning, zoning and BPU's payments in lieu of taxes. BPU and Evergy will team up to power the stadium, BPU handles water, and the Unified Government covers wastewater and stormwater. Officials also said the county isn't being asked for extra revenue beyond the stadium, parking and surrounding development area.
Kelly called it an important step in a deal that will shape Kansas for generations, and Watson said all sides still fully back the Chiefs and the project.
Our Take: this is the news fans wanted. A court fight over home rule could have dragged on and forced lawmakers to rewrite the law. Instead the state got the stadium site it needed and KCK kept its voice on everything around it.
What to watch: the final STAR bond district boundaries and the next design and construction steps for the domed stadium, which is targeted to open for the 2031 season.