ASHBURN, VA. — The Commanders' return to Washington is finally official as the District of Columbia Council voted in favor of the measure once more — an expected outcome given its vote more than a month ago.
The Council voted 11-2 on Wednesday to approve the RFK Stadium Project, allowing the team to return to the site it called home for more than three decades.
But a vote that had been considered a formality included last-minute requests that Commanders president Mark Clouse said could have jeopardized the agreement.
The Council already had approved the measure in a 9-3 vote on Aug. 1. After that vote, the Commanders were able to start planning their next steps to build a stadium on the site. However, earlier Wednesday, Clouse sent a letter to Council Chairman Phil Mendelson expressing concern over «last-minute» new demands — including an amendment that called for a $10 million penalty per year if the Commanders did not meet the timeline to build housing — that threatened the project.
That amendment, one of 12, was ultimately rejected by the Council.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, also in a letter to Mendelson, cautioned the Council about imposing «additional penalties or requirements that could undermine the District's ability to close the deal.»
Clouse wrote in the letter that less than 24 hours before the final vote, the team was presented with a «list of unworkable and impractical new last-minute demands by Councilmembers, which we simply cannot agree to as it jeopardizes the deal.» Clouse said the unions that would be working on the project were uncomfortable with the proposed changes.
«Today is a historic day for D.C., the Commanders organization, and our fans,» owner Josh Harris said in a statement. «With the Council's
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