ODOT: Browns can build new stadium in Brook Park

In the end, the Ohio Department of Transportation picked up the flag it threw.

The state transportation agency approved a permit for the Cleveland Browns’ new stadium in Brook Park near the Cleveland airport. The approval follows a review conducted by ODOT’s third-party aviation consultant, which assessed concerns that the structure would be too tall and interfere with flights.

The upshot is that the $2.4 billion stadium will not affect flights to and from Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, saying “the proposed stadium would have no adverse effect on the safety and efficient use of the aeronautical environment.”

The group considered information submitted by both the city of Cleveland Department of Port Control and Clyde & Co., attorneys for the Haslam Sports Group. It recommended approval of the permit and the waiving of obstruction standards.

“We respect both the comprehensive work that the FAA did to determine that our stadium project poses no hazard to the surrounding area and ODOT’s diligent process to confirm these findings,” Haslam Sports Group President Dave Jenkins said, according to the Associated Press. “Safety is of paramount importance to all of us and was at the forefront of our detailed and deliberate process with our FAA consultants, whom we engaged with well before our architects began designing the stadium.”

While the FAA found no hazards with the stadium, ODOT initially denied the permit because the stadium was 58 feet too high. In a release, the head of the state transportation agency said that the review accomplished its objectives.

“All along our goal has been to ensure that all concerns were heard and addressed, and a resolution could be found,” ODOT Director Pamela Boratyn said in a release.

Officials in Cuyahoga County were less thrilled with the outcome. County Executive Chris Ronayne told 3News the decision “stinks.”

“No hearing, behind closed doors — all of a sudden, there’s a different outcome,” Ronayne said, per the station’s report. “The state of Ohio — what is going on? We’ve got to you guys: What is going on? And it’s just going to be an endless, endless drain of fiscal resources.”

The stadium is to be built on land owned by Haslam Sports Group, which also owns the Browns. Aside from the location controversy, critics have complained about Ohio lawmakers’ decision to use $600 million in unclaimed funds to help fund the stadium.

DannLaw, a firm managed by former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, filed a lawsuit, Bleick v. Maxfield, in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas to halt the use of unclaimed funds. They want the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the measure.

The state has about $3.7 billion in unclaimed funds. However, attorneys contend that because the money is private property, the state cannot take it without alerting the owners, without their consent, and without payment.

The Ohio case is set for trial in July 2026.