ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HERNDON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The opportunity to bring Major League Baseball to Virginia is entering the final innings, and the state must step to the plate with money and a plan for a new stadium, baseball supporters said Tuesday.
Dozens of fans who spoke to a state legislative panel studying ways to underwrite a $250 million ballpark in Northern Virginia called baseball a major economic boon for the state.
``We want it here, we want it now, and we want it bad,'' Barbara Harris of Fairfax told the panel at a public hearing.
Virginia Baseball Club Inc. hopes to lure the Houston Astros or another team to the state. Potential sites for the stadium are in Arlington, Fairfax, Stafford and Loudoun counties.
The private investor group, led by Northern Virginia businessman William Collins III, energized baseball fans in the state last year when he tried unsuccessfully to buy the Astros and move them to the Washington suburbs.
Collins' group says taxes, bond financing or some other public contribution for a stadium is essential.
There is some urgency, because major league owners will look elsewhere unless Virginia can promise an attractive stadium quickly, supporters said Tuesday.
Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax County, and Del. Vince Callahan, R-Fairfax County, who lead the panel, have suggested a package of local taxes and fees.
A regional sales tax increase of a nickel on every $100 of purchases works out to about $10 annually for a family with an income of $60,000, and would raise about $9 million a year, supporters said.
The rest of the money under the lawmakers' proposal would come from a regional surtax on rental cars, a tax on baseball tickets and a rebate of state taxes paid by players and other stadium employees. The money would go to the stadium operating authority.
The panel faces a July 1 deadline for recommending a stadium financing plan.
Many supporters Tuesday backed special-issue lottery games, with proceeds going to fund a stadium.
Donna Westmeyer of Springfield sounded a rare note of dissent at the hearing, citing the region's already infamous traffic woes.
``I love baseball, but I am against building a stadium, especially in Springfield,'' she said.
A disused government site in Springfield is among the proposed sites.
Localities that want to be considered for the stadium site must put up a nonrefundable $150,000 application fee by May15.
Gov. George Allen said last month he opposes a sales tax increase for the proposed 45,000-seat ballpark.
Allen has kept his distance from efforts to bring Major League Baseball to the state. His reserve follows the collapse of plans to bring the Washington Redskins and a Walt Disney Co. theme park to Northern Virginia. Both failed projects included state financing.
Allen, a Republican, said asking all consumers to help foot the stadium bill is unfair. He favors user fees for those who visit or benefit from the stadium.
``I would remind Governor Allen that his father certainly knew the value of a stadium [with public funding],'' said David Jenkins of McLean, who told lawmakers he is an Allen supporter.
Allen's father, the late George Allen Sr., coached the Washington Redskins. The football team plays at the publicly built RFK Stadium.
Lawmakers will hear from residents elsewhere in the state before recommending any financing plan, said Del. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton.
The House majority leader said he wants a better gauge of public opinion about baseball, and specifics about sales taxes or user fees are premature.
``The first thing you've got to do is figure out how long this piece of string is before you decide how to cut it up,'' Cranwell told reporters.
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