NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Clay County leaders want residents to weigh in on a potential Kansas City Royals stadium.
Scott Wagner is a part of a three-commissioner negotiating team to try to bring the Royals north of the river.
“We continue to talk to the team. We talked to them just a few days ago,” he said in an interview with FOX4 Thursday.
He also said he’d like the county to hold two public meetings on this issue where the public can share their thoughts on this at the County Administration building.
“If we were the site, then we would have some sort of public hearing where we would not take action on Jan. 11,” Wagner said. “We would then bring it forward on Jan. 18 for a vote to then place it on the ballot before (Jan.) 23.”
Wagner said he would want the public to weigh in on that Jan. 11 date. That way, it doesn’t look like the commission was trying to approve this without its citizens’ input.
“Obviously, we would like to have a decision out there ideally before the end of the year, so people can see what we’re talking about,” he continued.
The Royals have still not decided where they’re going to build their new $2 billion ballpark district. The team is still deciding between two possible stadium sites — one in the East Village of downtown Kansas City and one in North Kansas City.
But Jackson County leaders aren’t waiting on an announcement from the team. The legislature will vote Monday on whether to put a sales tax extension on the April 2024 ballot.
Jackson County’s site is located near 12th and Cherry streets. The Clay County site is between 9 Highway and I-35, just south of the businesses on Armour Road.
“North of the river’s got a lot of good things going for it. It’ll help put us even more on the map,” Clay County resident Bill Stark told FOX4 Thursday at Chappell’s, just north of the NKC site, when asked what a Royals stadium north of the river would mean for Clay County.
The Royals would need sales tax money from Clay County residents if the team wanted to move north. They’d also need more than a 3/8th-cent sales tax, which is what the Chiefs and the Royals currently split in Jackson County. Jackson County is more than two-and-a-half times the size of Clay.
“I’m already paying a lot of taxes, so I’m for a move,” Stark said. “I like downtown or closer to downtown stadiums. There’s more things to do. We can come to a nice restaurant like this if the game gets out of hand or before a game.”
Monday’s meeting in Jackson County where leaders will consider an ordinance for both the Royals and the Chiefs starts at 10 a.m. at the downtown courthouse.