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NIMBYs suit up

July 15, 2003 1:07 am

A RECENT POLL finds that two-thirds of Arlington residents don't want a Major League Baseball stadium in one of the three county neighborhoods being considered for the ballpark. Those sites, in turn, are among five put forward by a Stadium Authority that hopes to bring the Montreal Expos franchise to Northern Virginia.

The validity of the poll--funded by a developer with other ideas for using the property--is not the point. The general proposition is. And it is this: The rational objections of those in whose neighborhoods the stadium might be built should carry outsized weight. The impact such a structure would have on traffic, for example, is substantial.

Amid the rah-rah for a return of big-league baseball to the Washington area, consider that those who oppose the selection of a particular site might actually have worthwhile concerns.





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