ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Soon, the Rays' great stadium debate will be in the hands of elected officials.

The details of the plan to reimagine the Tropicana Field parcel has taken more than a year to negotiate with the Rays, developers, Pinellas County and St. Petersburg all playing a role in what eventually will be a multibillion-dollar project that could define downtown’s future.

And now that financing and other questions have been mostly answered, city council members and county commissioners will soon be responsible for approving the plan and the government’s share of expenditures.

From what I can gather, most people seem amenable to the idea of affordable housing, hotels, corporate campuses, medical buildings, green spaces and restaurants/bars on the bulk of the 86-acre parcel. It’s the 17 or so acres and the $1.3 billion price tag for a new stadium that’s contentious.

So, let’s talk about that.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column pondering the benefits/costs of this project and included two sentences about a poll commissioned by the team that suggested most registered voters considered it important for the Rays to remain in the region.

Within hours of the column’s publication, my mailbox began to fill up with emails from opponents of the plan. They disputed the poll’s veracity because it was at odds with a League of Women Voters survey that had been released in February. Several emails demanded I print a retraction.

Since there was nothing factually incorrect about what I had written, a retraction was never considered.

However, I did decide to invite an expert to review the methodology of the Rays poll.

And, also, the one released by the League of Women Voters.

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