By Ken Williams | Editor
City and county officials on Aug. 10 updated the National Football League on its plans to build a new stadium in Mission Valley and informed residents about three areas of progress that have been made.
The Chargers appear intent on moving to Carson to share a stadium with NFL West rival, the Oakland Raiders. At the same time, the owner of the St. Louis Rams, formerly of Los Angeles, wants to move his team to a new stadium he hopes to build in Inglewood.
Six NFL team owners have been appointed to the commissioner’s Los Angeles relocation committee, and are hearing proposals from the Chargers, Raiders and Rams.
City and county officials cited three steps forward in plans to build a new football facility on the Qualcomm Stadium site:
— The draft of the environmental impact report (EIR) has been completed. Read it online at bit.ly/1f8pJlg.
— A conceptual stadium design has been created by Populous, an internationally known architectural firm that has designed stadiums for five of the six NFL team owners who sit on the Los Angeles relocation committee. See the concepts online at bit.ly/1f45Ds9.
— A financing concept to build a new stadium without raising taxes, subject to voter approval, has been made available to the public. Read the document online at bit.ly/1f8psyD.
“San Diego’s stadium plans are on track thanks to our continued regional cooperation and the work of dozens of experts,” Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer said in a statement. “A new stadium means new opportunities. This is an opportunity to replace an aging facility with a world-class sports and entertainment complex that’s an asset to our community, and to forge a new agreement with the Chargers that’s a better deal for taxpayers over what we have currently.”
County Supervisor Ron Roberts backed up Faulconer’s comments.
“The release of this draft environmental impact report proves that at least one San Diego team can deliver on its promises,” Roberts said in a statement. “Under Mayor Faulconer’s leadership, we remain extremely well positioned to negotiate with the Chargers a stadium deal that will meet the NFL’s timeline.”
The officials said a January special election is still possible if the Chargers return to the negotiating table and agree to financial terms by early September.
“If the NFL wants a franchise in the nation’s eighth largest city, we have demonstrated we can move quickly toward a public vote meeting the NFL’s timetable,” City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said in a statement.
Meanwhile, city staff will be at the Sept. 2 meeting of the Mission Valley Planning Group to discuss the Mission Valley stadium EIR, according to MVPG member John W. Nugent.
—Ken Williams is editor of Mission Valley News and San Diego Uptown News and can be reached at [email protected] or at 619-961-1952.
See below for additional images of the conceptual stadium design by Populous (Courtesy of sandiego.gov)
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