CLEVELAND, Ohio — The city of Cleveland, which owns and operates Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, has been filing objections since at least early spring to the Browns’ plan to build a $2.4 billion stadium next to the airport, citing concerns that the stadium’s proposed height would interfere with air traffic.
As a result, the Ohio Department of Transportation has rejected a construction permit, siding with the airport’s objections and adding yet another complication for the Browns’ plan.
The development marks the city’s latest effort to throw cold water on the Browns’ push to relocate away from the lakefront downtown and instead build next to Hopkins, on the site of the former Ford plants in suburban Brook Park.
Bryant Francis, whom Mayor Justin Bibb appointed as director of port control two years ago, wrote letters of objection on March 24 to both the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration. Francis followed up with ODOT again on June 25, reiterating the city’s opposition.
The letters, obtained Monday through public records requests, warned that the stadium’s height could interfere with airport operations.
Earlier this month, ODOT denied the permit, a decision that the Browns said ran contrary to their months of work with the FAA.
“If an airport has any objections to a permit due to safety concerns, it has generally been ODOT’s practice to deny the permit based on the airport’s concerns,” an ODOT spokesperson said Monday, noting the agency is working to schedule a meeting with team officials.
Though ODOT offered alternatives, the denial is yet another obstacle as the Browns are trying to finalize details to begin stadium construction early next year, with a planned opening in 2029.
Court challenges are also pending. A city suit attempts to block the team’s move on grounds the team has violated the current lease by working on the new deal. Another suit filed by two former Democratic state officials is challenging the state’s removal of $1 billion from its unclaimed funds account to create a fund for sports and arts facilities, including $600 million for the Browns stadium.
Francis raised other concerns earlier as well, publicly warning in June 2024 that a Brook Park stadium could create traffic headaches for airport passengers.
On the height issue, ODOT suggested two options: lower the proposed stadium from 221 feet to 163 feet, or move it farther from the airport. The Browns already plan to sink the field 80 feet into the ground, but Francis insists even that doesn’t resolve safety concerns.
“The proposed building development’s detrimental effects on CLE’s navigable airspace, and its effects on the approach surfaces go against the objectives of the city of Cleveland’s Department of Port Control,” Francis wrote in March.
The Browns, through aviation attorney and former chief counsel of the FAA Kenneth Quinn, argue that exceeding height limits is not unusual. Quinn noted that 31 other structures already exceed “surface” rules around Hopkins and that the FAA itself concluded in May that the stadium would not be a hazard so long as red obstruction lights are installed.
Still, Francis told ODOT in late June that the city’s “opposition to a permanent structure impacting the airspace of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) remains.” ODOT’s denial followed on Aug. 1.
The Browns are weighing whether to appeal the ODOT decision while continuing to press their case for building away from downtown.
Statehouse reporterJeremy Pelzer contributed to this report.
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