It was listed as a blight designation on Monday’s City Council agenda, but the public’s concern was that it moves Lincoln toward building a new arena.

The council voted unanimously to declare blighted about 400 acres near the Haymarket District but assured a wary public that the vote doesn’t necessarily mean they want to build a new arena.

Not yet.

The blight designation was the first vote the council has taken in the direction of building an arena, because it could qualify development there for an urban renewal financing tool called tax increment financing. Some community leaders want to build a new arena near the Haymarket, and they hope to enlist a private developer to build a nearby hotel and convention center with the assistance of TIF.

That possibility was what prompted almost half a dozen people to testify on the blighting.

Roxanne Smith said to the average person the vote means “that the city is committed to building a convention center in that flood plain.

“I see this as a point of no return,” she said.

She continued her campaign against the blight designation, saying the city should not build an arena in a flood plain and suggesting the city may have to foot the bill to clean up land contaminated by the railroad.

She told the council to “finish a project” — she suggested Antelope Valley or 48th and O — before beginning another one.

However, Kyle Fischer of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce saw the blight vote as a necessary first step toward “exploring options that will make the city a better place to live, work and play.”

He got support from one member of the demographic group that arena supporters are targeting: a college student. Lucas Peterson said a new arena would help keep young people in Lincoln. He said if the city doesn’t build a new arena, “I’m going to join the rest and I’m going to leave this state, and I’m not going to look back.”

Urban Development Department Director David Landis tried to stress that Monday’s action was about whether the 400 acres is blighted, as defined by state law. And according to a $10,000 blight study done by a consultant, he said, “This is not a leaner in horseshoes, this is a ringer. … If you stand on the Harris Overpass and look both ways, you’ll see it.”

But people such as Jane Kinsey saw the vote as a “back-door effort to bring the arena to fruition.” Kinsey, who has twice run for the City Council, said the city has too many blighted areas already, and an arena would require a subsidy.

She said that while she empathizes with young people looking for a new entertainment venue, “it’s older people who pay taxes.”

Council members assured people that a new arena is no slam dunk and that there will be plenty of opportunities for public input as the process continues.

“We’re going to give this whole process a very careful review,” Councilman Jon Camp said.

Councilwoman Robin Eschliman said she wanted to “challenge the cheerleaders” for the arena to convince the people of Lincoln that an arena would pay for itself but added, “If we don’t dream it, it will never happen.”

“I hope that the public will give this project a chance,” she said.

The next step in the process is for a redevelopment plan — which spells out a possible arena, hotel and convention center plan — to go to the city-county planning commission and City Council. The plan should reach the council in late October.

If the redevelopment plan is approved, the city would solicit proposals from developers interested in building a hotel and convention center. A mayoral committee would select a proposal and then the developer and city would negotiate a redevelopment agreement, which also would have to be approved by the council.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.