Cobb Commission Approves Braves Stadium

It's official: Cobb County will become the new home of the Atlanta Braves.

By a 4-1 vote, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a memorandum of understanding to commit $300 million of public funding toward a $672 million baseball stadium in the Cumberland Mall area.

The only dissenting vote was South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid, who said she objected to the short time frame for the vote. 

While the vote wasn't a surprise, that didn't stop supporters and opponents of the proposed stadium from packing the commission's meeting room in downtown Marietta more than an hour ahead of time. 

They brought signs, clapped and cheered and spoke out strongly during a public comment period before the vote in emphatic terms.

Among those sitting in the front row were top Braves officials, including team president John Schuerholz and general manager Frank Wren. 

The memorandum of understanding is a "framework" that will allow the county to continue refining a 30-year agreement with the Braves, who are aiming to begin play in their new Cobb confines in 2017. 

That agreement includes a $400 million mixed-use development the Braves will be building next to the stadium, and that team and county officials have said will also provide substantial economic benefits. 

The exact stadium location is a 60-acre tract is near the congested 285/75 interchange, and is bordered by Cobb Parkway, Windy Ridge Parkway and Circle 75 Parkway, north of the mall and Cobb Galleria Centre area.

The stadium will be built on 15 of those acres with revenue bonds issued by the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority, which also operates the Galleria and the Cobb Energy Centre. 

Anticipating the commission vote, the authority on Monday approved the agreement between Cobb and the Braves by a unanimous vote. 

The county will fulfill its repayment of the bonds with $8.7 million in annual funding from existing tax dollars over the 30-year life of the Braves agreement. In addition, a new car rental tax in Cobb and additional taxes in the Cumberland Community Improvement District will be levied. 

Patch will update this story with more reaction from the Cobb commission meeting.