Anne Arundel County Executive John G. Gary will support building a 78,600-seat football stadium in Laurel only if the Redskins prove to him it would make money for the county and if the team can resolve problems in their plan pointed out by a county hearing officer.
In a meeting with lawyers representing the team, Mr. Gary reiterated he would not authorize spending any county tax money for the proposed $160 million stadium, said Lawrence R. Telford IV, a Gary spokesman.
But he did offer two incentives. If the team meets his conditions he will propose a property tax break so the team's tax bill would be figured as if the land were unimproved, and he would allow the Redskins to use the county's AA bond rating to borrow money at reduced interest rates.
Mr. Gary met for about 45 minutes in his office at the Arundel Center with Harry C. Blumenthal and William J. Pitcher, lawyers who represent the team.
"It was basically a meet-and-greet meeting," Mr. Telford said. "They asked John for his commitment to [the stadium] and he said he couldn't commit yet."
Neither of the lawyers could be reached last night.
Mr. Gary told them he sees the proposed stadium simply as a means of bringing money into the county to pay for the additional police officers and increased school construction he promised in his campaign, Mr. Telford said.
"Basically, we made it very clear to the Redskins that we're looking at this stadium as an economic development project," Mr. Telford said. "We're not going around chasing football teams like some of these other cities and counties."
Mr. Gary also told the lawyers he wants the team to address problems pointed out by county hearing officer Robert C. Wilcox, who rejected the Redskins' request for a special exception to build the stadium and variances from county rules on matters such as landscaping and width of parking spaces.
And he told them he was angered by the team's treatment of Dr. Thomas E. Florestano, the retired president of Anne Arundel Community College, who resigned as chairman of a pro-stadium task force organized by the Anne Arundel Trade Council after team representatives failed to show up at a Trade Council meeting that was called to talk about helping the Redskins win approval for their stadium.
Mr. Telford said the Redskins' representatives expressed regret that some of their dealings with the county have not gone well and that they wanted to start with a clean slate.