"The entire time the city has been pushing this baseball stadium since June of last year, process has been an issue."<br><em>Ken Krayeske</em>
The New Britain Rock Cats want to play baseball in Hartford in April 2016, so when it comes to building their new stadium, every day matters. Now a new lawsuit says the city, in its haste, didn’t follow the law.
Ken Krayeske is an attorney, a Hartford resident, and an outspoken critic of the stadium plan. He's filed suit in state court saying the city didn’t give proper notice of a recent Planning and Zoning Commission meeting about the stadium. Here's the issue: Krayeske says the law mandates a notice at least ten days in advance of the meeting, and the city only gave nine.
"The entire time the city has been pushing this baseball stadium since June of last year, process has been an issue," Krayeske said. "I want to see them do this process right. If they held a hearing that wasn’t properly noticed, then let’s go back and do it again."
Bob Landino, one of the project’s developers, said this is the kind of hurdle that could slow things down, but not kill the deal. He also said timing might be more of a concern for the Rock Cats than it is for him -- and the team has backup plans, like playing in New Britain until the Hartford stadium is done.
“If they needed to stay another year, I believe they could," Landino said. "If they needed to find another home for a year, I believe they could probably do that, as well."
The city declined to comment. Efforts to reach the Rock Cats were unsuccessful.
