By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The Cordish Co. is against light-rail coming into its Power & Light District in downtown KC. But why?

The company, in a letter to Mayor Mark Funkhouser claimed light rail would have "disastrous implications and would be terrible public policy."

But that's not a good, specific answer as to "why" light rail might hurt the district.

Spokesman Jon Stephens took a stab at explaining the stance, saying, "We have concerns about how it would impact pedestrian flow and access to the Kansas City Live garage."

But light rail would make it more convenient for lots of people to get access to the district and the Kansas City Live part of the district.

The billion-dollar light-rail project shouldn't be prohibited from coming through the Power & Light District simply because the Cordish Co. proclaims it might hurt business.

That's especially true given the fact that transit planners, a City Council member and urban experts all point out that a route inside the entertainment district could make a lot of sense.

From a purely logical point of view, the light-rail line would deliver thousands of potential customers to the area. That's a good thing.

Stephens said the Cordish Co. had "invested tens of millions of dollars into the community" and didn't want to see its investment squandered.

Hey, Jon, taxpayers of Kansas City have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in your project. We don't want our money squandered either, whether it's for Power & Light or for light rail.

Elected officials and transit experts eventually will determine where the light-rail route ought to go.

Eventually, voters will decide whether they want to finance light rail.

In the next few weeks, the Cordish Co. will have to do a clearer job of explaining exactly why it thinks light rail in its entertainment district would "have disastrous implications" for the project.