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Two city council members will vote against mayor’s Shockoe baseball plan

Posted at 7:00 PM, May 23, 2014
and last updated 2014-05-23 20:57:40-04

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- Two members of Richmond City Council announced late Friday that they plan to vote against Mayor Dwight Jones' Shockoe Bottom baseball plan.

Charles Samuels and Jon Baliles said they will vote "no" when the ordinance goes before city council next Tuesday.

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"This proposal is still, after seven months, fundamentally incomplete and continues to unravel with almost every presentation,"Baliles said in a statement. "We have kept open minds on this plan since before Thanksgiving, but the time has come for us to move on to more pressing matters..”

Additionally, Samuels said that “if the administration wants to revisit this issue in the fall when they may have a complete plan, we would be happy to consider it along with other potential proposals."

"There is a growing consensus that this slow drip approach of information is not helpful to the City of Richmond. Instead, it is increasingly interfering with more urgent matters that Richmond City Council needs to resolve," Samuels said.

Council members were considering an alternative development baseball stadium proposal for the Boulevard that was submitted by a group of private developers.

Baliles said the Boulevard plan presented by those developers would not use taxpayer dollars to build a new baseball stadium on the Boulevard.

According to Baliles, the Mayor’s current plan would cost the city $80 million, which would go toward building a new stadium in Shockoe Bottom, infrastructure improvements in the area, and a slavery heritage site.

Stay with WTVR.com and CBS 6 News for the latest developments on this story.

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