The Washington Post reports that the Prince George’s County Council’s General Assembly Committee voted 5-0, with two abstentions, against the next step in the stadium process. Specifically, the committee voted to recommend opposing state legislation allowing the Maryland Stadium Authority to begin design, site study, and financing work on the proposed new stadium for DC United. This vote is non-binding, and such votes represent “the sense of the Council at that time” according to Council Chairman Marilynn M. Bland.
While other Council members were silent on the reasons for the vote, Eric Olsen took issue with an obscure throw-in part of the plan allowing for new headquarters for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, bypassing the council. According to Olsen, “That is a fatal flaw.”
DC United spokesman Doug Hicks appeared bemused. “It’s difficult to react to today’s vote, as we’ve not yet spoken to the legislators and don’t know what, exactly, they are opposed to.”