Potential new stadium site poses new challenges for David Beckham

@PatriciaMazzei

If the notion of building a Major League Soccer stadium on PortMiami land seemed fraught with practical complications and political pitfalls, try putting one on water.

David Beckham and his investors are examining whether filling a deep boat slip with rocks, forever altering the jagged edges of downtown Miami’s shoreline, would work as a location for their planned stadium.

They’re likely to find at least as many challenges as they did for their first-choice port site.

There are new costs to weigh, environmental and building permits from federal, state and local agencies to request — and not one, but two municipal governments to persuade.

Beyond those logistical and political considerations is a broader question for elected leaders in Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami. Do they want to turn over the last remaining piece of public, open waterfront along Biscayne Boulevard to a private entity to build an imposing structure?

“You’re basically giving away public land,” said Laura Reynolds, the executive director of the Tropical Audubon Society, who has repeatedly fought attempts to fill the water basin over the years. She sent the county a letter Friday opposing it as a stadium site.

 

More here.