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October 06, 2009
California Senate mulls get-out-of-lawsuit-free card for Roski
The proposed city of Industry football stadium could clear its biggest remaining hurdle in the next two weeks, as the California state senate takes up a bill to allow developer Ed Roski's Majestic Realty to evade environmental laws to move ahead with the project. (A citizen group's lawsuit charges that Majestic should conduct a new environmental impact study, since the original one planned for commercial warehouses on the site, not a stadium; instead, it was amended with a "supplemental" report.) Environmental groups are now worried that if the Majestic loophole is approved, this will, in the words of one, lead to "a crop of bills in December" seeking similar exemptions from state law for other projects.
(Note, by the way, that this is different from the tax-increment financing bill proposed earlier in the year that also would have aided the Majestic stadium project. That one died over the summer.)
Don't see how they think there will be a flood of applications. All Roski and Industry have done is amend the existing EIR right? I don't see what's wrong with that, the EIR has been completed, the environment has been protected. Seems to me it's 8 NIMBYs vs a big developer more than anything else...
Posted by Dan on October 6, 2009 01:08 PM
And so it begins...
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/06/bn06industry-offer-bolts/?metro&zIndex=178436
Roski's group has officially announced the teams they'll be pursuing. Little surprise of course, it's the Chargers, Raiders, Jaguars, Vikings, Rams, Bills and if their stadium plan falls apart in SF, the Niners. SD paper seems pessimistic it'll be the Chargers, but then they've been pessimistic for years. Frankly IMO it'll be the Jaguars or Raiders. Both teams are in poor situations in their local markets with blacked out games, poor gates, and in the Raiders case a poor stadium of their own doing. With the Jags the NFL may quickly be pushing them for a better situation, and for the Raiders, God knows old Al needs something positive for his twilight years, a new stadium to sit and look senile in might just be the ticket.
Posted by Dan on October 7, 2009 03:28 AM
There is little doubt that one of teams most likely to end up in LA is the Raiders. The Stadium issue (The leasing ending soon and the Stadium's condition), the inheritance tax issue, the politics in Oakland issue, the poverty and criminal element in Oakland (Worse than Detroit),the blackout issue, and Davis's age and health are all determining factors. But one major reason not discussed is the NFL's stake in this. If you think NFL you think of certain franchises: The Dallas Cowbuys, The New York Giants, The Washington Redsoins, The Chicago Bears, The Green Bay Packers, The San Francisco 49ers, My Pittsburgh Steelers, and last, but certainly not least, The Oakland Raiders. The league, does not want to see a premier franchise looking like a joke, with a bad stadium situation, a coach facing criminal charges (For hitting an assistant), TV blackouts, and of course, terrible play. They have a vested interest in getting rid of Davis, getting out of that dump of a stadium, and restoring the Raiders to glory. The best way, is getting Davis bought out, and after the 2010 season, moved to LA
Posted by Januz on October 7, 2009 05:50 AM
Unfortunately for Oakland, the millions of dollars in debt from Coliseum (stadium) renovations will persist long after the Raider's lease expires, so Oakland could be stuck in the situation of having their team move to LA, but still paying for millions of dollars in debts for years to come. This year, it is in the $20 mil range from their city budget for Coliseum debt.
Posted by Chris on October 7, 2009 11:06 AM
Yep, and with the A's leaving the Coliseum one way or another they'll be no help. Not that they should IMO, since the "rennovations" in 1995 did nothing to help the baseball team and were actually the impetus for their desire to leave.
Posted by Dan on October 7, 2009 01:15 PM