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(WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team found tall smokestacks had stood for decades where the Browns want to build a dome next to Hopkins airport, yet the state said travelers would be in danger due to the height of the dome.
We took a new look at the skyline around Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has denied a permit for the Cleveland Browns to build a dome just across the highway from Hopkins airport. Officials have expressed concern about the dome being too big and so close, with planes taking off and landing.
So we dug up old video of what had stood on that site for a very long time — a factory with the smokestacks soaring into the sky.
In fact, the seal of the city of Brook Park includes smokestacks and an airplane.
At a meeting Tuesday, a Brook Park councilman even raised the issue of the state saying no to a dome, since smokestacks had practically cast a shadow on the airport for so long. He said the stacks would have been 40 feet taller than the proposed stadium.
We turned to commercial pilot and flight instructor Robert Katz, to ask if there is any difference between a smokestack and a building.
“Absolutely none,” he said.
The Federal Aviation Administration did a detailed study of plans for the dome, and the agency determined there would be “no hazard” to air navigation.
Still, the city of Cleveland raised concerns. Now, the state has said there should be no permit to build the dome.
But Katz said pilots trust what the FAA concluded.
“Every party to the project can rest assured that safety is not being compromised, and neither the city nor the state would have anything to complain about,” he said.
The I-Team has requested records from the city and the state showing how it was determined the dome would be a danger for air traffic.
In fact, we obtained an email from the state to the city asking, in effect, “Are you sure you object to this?”
The email included, “Can you re-evaluate the proposed structure based on the current FAA determination (no hazard)?”
The airport director wrote back, ” … The position of the city … has not changed…”
The Department of Transportation said the agency will meet with the Browns about denying a permit for the dome, saying there are a number of options, including a chance to appeal that ruling.
Katz addressed whether he’d be concerned flying into Cleveland with the dome built.
“So long as the FAA has greenlit the proposal, then I am 100% confident,” he said
On Wednesday, Gov. Mike DeWine said he was surprised by ODOT’s decision to deny a permit.
This week, the city of Brook Park likely will take new steps to clear the way for building on the site of the dome.
The FAA still plans to meet with local leaders, with whom the final decision rests.
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Ed Gallek
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