FC Cincinnati gains Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld's vote on West End soccer stadium

FC Cincinnati appears to have the votes needed to build a stadium in the West End, ending the club’s monthslong battle to construct in the neighborhood.  Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld announced Friday he will back FC Cincinnati’s efforts to build a $250 million soccer stadium at the current site of Willard R. Stargel Stadium.  The team has offered a number of promises that include paying more than $25 million worth of school property taxes, spending $15 million on affordable housing in the West End, and developing a community benefits agreement with the West End neighborhood, Sittenfeld said.  “What will happen if instead of seizing this opportunity, we let it pass us by and go across the river to Kentucky?” Sittenfeld asked.   For months, the team faced vocal opposition to building in the West End, a historically black and low-income neighborhood that has suffered from bad development deals in decades past.   City leaders, residents and school board members have cited a lengthy list of concerns over the West End site. Many worried the team’s wealthy owners wouldn’t pay school property taxes on the site and the new stadium would drive up property values, pricing residents out of their homes.