CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland’s airport director isn’t backing down from his stance that a new Browns stadium in Brook Park will pose a risk to pilots and travelers.
During a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Bryant Francis doubled down, noting the development site’s proximity to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
“At its current proposed location and height, the structure poses a potential safety risk that we do not believe is acceptable,” said Francis, who oversees Hopkins as the city of Cleveland’s director of port control.
The 30-minute briefing – held in a conference room just past airport security, with no cameras or audio recording allowed – marked Francis’s first public remarks since a dispute among aviation officials surfaced last month.
RELATED: ODOT rejects new Browns stadium as too tall. Browns push back, citing FAA's OK.
Citing objections from Hopkins, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s aviation office denied a permit for the building in August. The state agency says the Browns need to shave 58 feet off the structure or move it to another location, even though the Federal Aviation Administration gave the project a green light in May.
Team owner Haslam Sports Group and its aviation consultants are negotiating with ODOT, in hopes of changing the agency’s position.
There’s no firm timetable for resolving the dispute.
But it’s clear the Browns, who are already mired in lawsuits over their plan to leave Downtown Cleveland for Brook Park in 2029, want to avoid yet another court fight.
“We believe it’s gonna arrive at a good conclusion – a good conclusion not just for the Browns and not just for our fans, but for the entire region,” Kenneth Quinn, an aviation lawyer hired by Haslam Sports Group, said during an interview Wednesday afternoon.
Quinn, a partner at the Clyde & Co. law firm in Washington, D.C., has been working on the stadium project for several years now. He said he was surprised and disappointed to get a permit-denial letter from ODOT Aviation last month.
In that letter, dated Aug. 1, the agency originally gave Quinn’s firm 30 days to file a formal appeal and seek a hearing. But ODOT lifted that deadline this week, saying a certified copy of the letter somehow didn’t make it to Quinn.
The Ohio Administrative Code requires ODOT’s aviation office to send denial letters by certified mail. The 30-day clock to ask for a hearing starts when a certified letter arrives.
“They indicated yesterday that we do not need to file a request for a hearing,” Quinn said Wednesday.
“When they say there is no clock that’s ticking, we think that’s helpful,” he added. “It encourages the constructive dialogue that we’re having – and that’s ongoing, and that shall be until we reach, I think, a very amicable resolution.”
ODOT, which says it traditionally defers to local airport officials in these matters, is stuck in the middle of a fight.
Francis isn’t budging from his message that the stadium is too tall, interfering with protected airspace around Hopkins.
“As things stand today, that is not an option that we are planning to consider,” he said of changing his position.
And the Browns aren’t willing to give up any ground.
“We don’t believe any changes are necessary,” Quinn said of modifying the stadium design to address the airport’s concerns.
Despite discussions about traffic and logistics on the ground, the Browns and Hopkins officials apparently haven’t been talking to each other about airspace.
“We are very open to that,” Francis told reporters. “If the Haslam Sports Group or their representatives were to reach out to us to engage, we absolutely would do so.”
Quinn confirmed that he hasn’t talked to airport leaders.
“But I’m happy to do so, and I may do so very soon,” he said.
FAA documents and ODOT records put the above-ground height of the stadium project at 221 feet. The Browns say they plan to sink the building 80 feet into the ground – on a 176-acre site just across State Route 237 from the airport.
“There is absolutely no degradation in aviation safety or efficiency with any part of this proposed stadium,” said Quinn, a former chief counsel for the FAA.
Public records show the FAA’s obstruction evaluation group initially raised concerns about the building – which isn’t identified as an NFL stadium in the aeronautical studies related to the project. “Negotiations to lower the height of the structure to eliminate the adverse effect were unsuccessful,” the agency wrote in a preliminary findings letter in February.
But the FAA ultimately signed off, concluding that the building won’t be a hazard.
Quinn says the federal agency’s word should settle the matter.
“We think the FAA’s decision is well-founded and ought to be respected,” he said.
State law says ODOT’s aviation office has the right to reject a recommendation from the FAA – or from airports or other government bodies – when deciding on a permit request.
“All this is non-binding, no matter what the FAA says,” Jason Lorenzon, a Northeast Ohio aviation lawyer and pilot, told News 5 during an interview last month. “It’s not binding on the Ohio Department of Transportation.”
Lorenzon believes the Browns will find a solution and be able to move forward in Brook Park, with some compromises.
He said the regulatory system around airspace is complicated - and should be, when it comes to protecting people in flight. The FAA and state agencies look at projects from different perspectives. And in this case, so far, ODOT is deferring to the people on the ground at Hopkins.
“We welcome development interests in Northeast Ohio and recognize the economic benefits such projects bring,” Francis said Wednesday. “However, it is essential to balance growth with protection of navigable airspace. … No single project should be created at the expense of the safety, efficiency and reliability of a center of commerce that has greatly benefited the entire region for the last 100 years and is poised to increase its contribution going forward.”
Hopkins is embarking on a massive modernization project, which will include a new terminal, expanded parking and upgraded ground-transportation facilities.
RELATED: A look at the future of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Quinn argues that a new NFL stadium – the $2.4 billion centerpiece of a proposed mixed-use development in Brook Park – will only complement a revamped airport.
He implied that Francis is playing politics. The city of Cleveland owns Hopkins and is the Browns’ current landlord at Huntington Bank Field, where the team’s lease is set to end in early 2029. The city is fighting in court to keep the Browns – or to get a better exit deal.
“You have the mayor who appoints the director of … port control obviously opposing anything that would have a stadium outside of the city boundaries,” Quinn said. “And then for the state agency to just oppose … I think that’s probably not a good policy. And I’m sure ODOT’s revisiting that approach.”
Francis said he’s not taking directives from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb.
“The mayor has been steadfast in his support of me in my role, and in supporting the safety of this airport. … He did not direct me to write this letter,” Francis said of notifying the FAA and ODOT of the airport’s formal opposition to the stadium project.
“This was not a mayor conversation,” he stressed. “It was around me and my role as the head of the airport. … And making a call in stating opposition to a proposed project that is in close proximity to this asset that I am to protect.”
In his letters to state and federal aviation officials, Francis said the stadium project would “permanently and negatively impact” the airspace at Hopkins. He said the development will force changes to approach minimums for pilots and cause problems for a runway that runs parallel to Brookpark Road.
On Wednesday, Francis said the airport didn’t hire an outside consultant to evaluate the potential hazards and produce a report.
“We did our internal analysis,” he said.
Quinn expressed skepticism about the airport’s process.
“We welcome an opportunity to sit down with the director and let him know the kind of extensive analysis that our own experts have done in this project and what the FAA found,” he said. “We believe that while the airport is a tremendous asset, so too will be this stadium.”
