Arlington May Fund Study of Private Land

A Los Angeles based firm has offered Arlington a preliminary study costing $45,000 or a full study costing $86,000 to assess possible uses for a site that has also been considered for the Cowboys' new $500 million stadium.

By J. TAYLOR RUSHING
Star-Telgream Staff Writer

ARLINGTON - City leaders are considering spending up to $86,000 to study Arlington's largest undeveloped piece of land - a site being considered by the Cowboys for a new stadium.

Several City Council members say the study would be a waste of money and would inappropriately use public funds to assess private property.

Council members today are scheduled to review a tentative contract with Los Angeles-based Economics Research Associates Inc. to study future uses on the 1,950-acre site north of Green Oaks Boulevard and east of Farm Road 157.

The firm has offered city officials a preliminary study lasting 40 days and costing $45,000, or a more extensive analysis lasting 100 days and costing $86,000. A final council decision is not expected until Sept. 18.

In an Aug. 31 letter to the city, company Vice Chairman Austin Anderson said his firm will study the short- and long-term economic impacts of a variety of proposals for the land.

"Our work would ... assist the city in achieving the most appropriate uses of the property," Anderson wrote.

A residential neighborhood called The Lakes of Arlington was once proposed on the land, but the project failed, and the site is now owned by the Swiss bank Credit Suisse. Only 800 acres of the site is considered developable, because the remainder lies in a Trinity River flood plain.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is said to be considering the site as the future home of a $500 million stadium to replace 30-year-old Texas Stadium in Irving. Former Texas Secretary of State George Bayoud, a consultant to Jones, told Mayor Elzie Odom and two city officials last month that the team plans to approach Arlington in October.

Last month, the council voted to block any zoning changes on the land until March, but the margin was narrow, and several council members have said the zoning moratorium and land-use plan are infringing upon Credit Suisse's property rights.

"We shouldn't spend a dime on this," Councilman Steve McCollum said. "It's not necessary for the city to land-plan private property."

Councilman Ron Wright said the study will only delay a decision. "We tend to study things to death when we don't want to deal with something." he said.

Councilman Joe Bruner, whose district includes the site, said he supports a full study.

"If we're going to go into it, we need their advice on all of it," Bruner said.

Talks between the Cowboys and Arlington leaders have been held at various levels for several years. Last week, Odom said Bayoud told him the team was "very interested" in Arlington. Some council members said Odom went one step further in describing the meeting to them. Three councilmen said Odom quoted Bayoud as describing Arlington as the team's top choice.

Jones has consistently said in interviews he will talk to several cities this fall, regardless of which city he approaches first.