29-05-2025
Dallas City Council rejects concrete plant near major soccer complex
The Brief
Dallas City Council rejected a proposal for a concrete plant near the $30 million MoneyGram soccer complex.
The vote was 10-5 in favor, but 12 votes were needed for approval, despite conditions proposed by some council members.
Concerns over air pollution near the complex, which hosts hundreds of thousands of children annually, were a key factor in the decision.
DALLAS - Dallas City Council voted down the approval of a concrete plant just a few hundred feet from the city's $30 million soccer complex.
Despite a 10-5 vote in favor, the proposal failed to pass as it required at least 12 approval votes.
What they're saying
Before the vote, Dallas city councilman Adam Bazaldua said that the city had to make room for concrete plants. He proposed approving the special use permit with several conditions, including a buffer of live oak trees greater than 12 feet tall, along with a 12-foot-high screening fence.
City councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn was one of the council members who voted against the plant.
She says a fence would not prevent fine particulates from the batch plant from being in the air just a few hundred feet away.
The backstory
The city built the MoneyGram soccer complex, operated by FC Dallas, in an industrial area.
As other concrete batch plants already operate in the area, the owner of the concrete batch plant, BJ Johnson, argues he has been following all the rules by planning to move his plant to an area zoned for its use.
"I worked with staff, staff asked me for more, I did what they asked. As an athlete, you run the plays called. I've followed the rules, I've done nothing wrong. I didn't build the soccer fields," said Johnson.
"I'm not polluting the air, I'm running a reputable company."
FC Dallas' president, Daniel Hunt, argues the city needs to protect the hundreds of thousands of children who play soccer at the complex.
Hunt says a total of $60,000,000 has been spent building, managing, and operating MoneyGram Park.
With more than a half million people visiting the soccer complex each year, the economic impact on the city is between 30 and 60 million dollars.
"MoneyGram is a crown jewel soccer complex, one of the finest in America, from World Cup players, to kids kicking their first soccer ball," said Hunt. "I can't speak to how much pollution will increase. Children are more susceptible to particulate pollution."
The Source
Information in this article was provided by the Dallas Council Meeting on May 28.
