California Lawmakers' Bill Aimed at Fast-Tracking New L.A. Stadium

LOS ANGELES — California Assembly Speaker John Perez and Sen. Alex Padilla, both Los Angeles Democrats, introduced legislation on Friday that would help fast-track a $3.1 billion pro football stadium project in downtown Los ­Angeles.

Early last week, legislation to help stadium developer AEG circumvent the California Environmental Quality Act looked like a long shot because lawmakers had failed to introduce a bill despite lobbying efforts from AEG that began in January.

An AEG spokesman said last week that if the developer did not get relief from the California environmental review process, and its attendant risk of lawsuits from competing developers, it might not be able to go ahead with the project, which is designed to attract a National Football League franchise.

Despite its sizable population, the Los Angeles area has been without an NFL team since 1994.

SB 292, authored by Padilla, will expedite and elevate judicial review directly to the appellate court level.

Padilla supported similar legislation two years ago that expedited Majestic Realty Co.’s trip through the environmental-impact report process.

Majestic has been promoting a competing stadium proposal planned for City of Industry, a small municipality an hour east of downtown Los Angeles, for about three years.

A Majestic spokesman said the developer’s efforts to attract a team stalled because NFL officials were focused on a collective bargaining agreement with the players, which was reached this summer.

Lawmakers contend that the current bill to providing relief for AEG does not have a CEQA exemption, but simply expedites the environmental impact report process, said John Vigna, a spokesman for Perez.

Anyone seeking environmental mitigations has 175 days following the filing of the report to file any legal challenges, Vigna said.

But environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, oppose the legislation.

“Members of the California Legislature propose to give AEG special treatment in return for things that AEG would need to do anyway,” said David Pettit, senior attorney with the council. “This weak, last-minute backroom deal is a missed opportunity for Los Angeles and a dangerous precedent for California.”

AEG has been trying for several months to work out an agreement with environmental groups, said Carol Schatz, president and chief executive officer of Central City Association, a downtown Los Angeles business group.

“The business community in Los Angeles has long been concerned about CEQA abuse,” Schatz said. “We have seen important projects delayed or sometimes killed by lawsuits from organized labor, and threats of lawsuits from community activists that, when everything is stripped away, are extortionists.”

The downtown football stadium project has a significant competitor, Schatz said, and with a project this size, the association thinks the prospect of someone lodging a challenge is great, which is why this bill is needed.

AEG’s biggest concern, according to spokesman Michael Roth, are not lawsuits brought by residents, but the potential for Majestic Realty or other developers to bring suit.

Officials at Majestic have said, however, that its has no intention of using CEQA to halt AEG’s project.

“In nearly 70 years, Majestic Realty has never sued a competitor and has no plans to sue a business partner,” said vice president John Semcken. “We are 100% committed to returning the NFL to our region and have shown the league and the teams the tremendous economic upside of our project.”

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