EDA offers partial access to CarMax Park entrance during WinterWorld; Squirrels owner blasts proposal as 'wholly unacceptable'

Richmond Economic Development Authority Director Angie Rodgers broke her silence Tuesday regarding the ongoing feuds at CarMax Park involving Richmond Flying Squirrels owner Lou DiBella.

Rodgers' email, obtained by The Richmonder, was in response to a dispute over access to the main entrance of the stadium during a planned WinterWorld event, but also spoke to the team's relationship with the city more broadly.

Rodgers noted that she was corresponding directly with DiBella, rather than his legal team.

"I am responding back to you rather than to them because I believe this is an unnecessary way for us and our teams to communicate with each other regarding operational issues at the stadium," she wrote. "If this is how the duration of your tenancy at CarMax Park is going to proceed, then we have a long and arduous road ahead of us."

One day later, an attorney representing DiBella sent a five-page response calling the EDA's letter "unacceptable," and detailing what she described as a pattern of unresponsiveness from the city.

ArentFox Schiff attorney Kelli Scheid Smith wrote: "The EDA’s conduct has forced involvement of legal counsel. This is not an escalation for its own sake; it is what any reasonable tenant would do when significant operational concerns go unaddressed by its landlord."

WinterWorld access

Rodgers attached a proposal for DiBella that she said would keep at least 30% of the path to the main entrance open during the WinterWorld window of time.

Mayor Danny Avula, asked about the conflict last week by The Richmonder, didn't directly weigh in on the issue of WinterWorld access, but noted that the Diamond District area around the ballpark “will be under construction for multiple years” as it is built out in its entirety.

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The RichmonderGraham Moomaw

In the Wednesday letter, DiBella's representative reiterated the team's demand for "100% access beginning November 11 for WinterWorld setup."

It continued: "That the EDA waited eight weeks to respond ... with a proposal that offers significantly less than what the (Squirrels) already conceded in good faith speaks volumes."

DiBella said at a WinterWorld promotional event that he plans to spend millions of dollars staging the event.

“You can’t not only empower me but demand that I create events and positives for the community in this ballpark and then stop me from doing it,” he said at the time.

Discussing the state of discussions

The Squirrels' letter also took objection over a statement a city spokesperson gave to the Richmond Times-Dispatch for its article about WinterWorld stating that "our team is working closely with the Flying Squirrels organization to ensure continued access to the ballpark through any planned offseason activities."

The ArentFox Schiff letter reads: "Incredulously, the EDA and its representatives separately have been telling Richmond media that the EDA has been actively working with the (Squirrels) to resolve this dispute. In reality, the (Squirrels) have spent two months engaged in one-sided outreach met with nothing but silence, deflection, and a single substantive response that ignores the (Squirrels)’ position. The (Squirrels) demand that the EDA immediately cease making false or misleading statements to the media regarding the status of discussions between the parties."

Rodgers' Tuesday email to DiBella acknowledges receiving "several letters and numerous email from your attorneys regarding (WinterWorld access)."

"I hope, however, that cooler heads can prevail," Rodgers wrote. "I believe that if we had been able to bring the two teams together that last week of May/first week of June, we would have gotten to a resolution then. Instead, before a solution could be proposed and only days after I learned of the issue and while I was still communicating with DDP/Whiting Turner to confirm a work-around, I get a letter from your attorney that seemed less directed at a resolution to an operational issue and more directed at setting up some future legal action over your lease."

She continued: "Our landlord/tenant relationship has had complicated beginnings indeed. I do believe we can do better, though. I believe we can communicate effectively, and that we can resolve most of the day-to-day issues associated with your tenancy quickly and without involving our respective lawyers."

Other disputes

Wednesday morning, Richmond BizSense reported that DiBella had amended his lawsuit against Thalhimer Realty Partners, adding six additional counts of defamation, including one related to an account of DiBella's dog biting a Thalhimer official that appeared in The Richmonder.

Lou DiBella’s dog bit Diamond District developer on Flying Squirrels opening night, according to account from Thalhimer execs

Two of the top leaders behind Richmond’s Diamond District project gave their account of a confrontation with Richmond Flying Squirrels owner Lou DiBella, portraying the baseball team’s owner as “out of line” as he threatened to put the developers “out of business.”

The RichmonderMichael Phillips

On Tuesday, Axios Richmond shared renderings of a park that will be built directly behind the stadium.

DiBella and Thalhimer officials have also squabbled over a piece of land directly outside CarMax Park, which Thalhimer plans to develop into a restaurant space. DiBella has said those plans would eat into the Squirrels' concession sales, since the land sits just steps from the ballpark's entrance.

Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org.