Deadline for L.A. Stadium Plan

03 September 2011 |permalink | email article

WITH only four working days next week to act on legislation for the year many California legislators had not see a bill that would expedite challenges about a proposed football stadium in downtown Los Angeles and fast-track special treatment to help the project by Anschutz Entertainment Group, the Denver-based conglomerate owned by reclusive conservative billionaire Philip Anschutz.

Two Los Angeles Democrats, Assembly Speaker John A. Perez and Sen. Alex Padilla, said their bill would uphold environmental laws, and create more than 10,000 jobs. AEG said the Friday deadline is necessary to avoid jeopardizing the $1.2-billion project.

While the project is backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles Times many lawmakers around the state said they were in no rush to accommodate AEG. Under the plan AEG must still complete a full environmental review of the 72,000 stadium. The catch is that any legal challenges would start with the state Court of Appeal and have to be resolved in 175 day, eliminating protracted lawsuits to derail the project.

State Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), told The Times he was non-committal, saying he needed time to review the 19-page bill. Environmental groups have voiced new objections. An attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council said the bill contained too many loopholes for the group to back it. The Southern California director of the California League of Conservation voters said lawmakers should take more time to work out a way to enforce environmental protections. Given time restraints, and despite frantic lobbying efforts, odds of a legislative victory by AEG seem questionable.

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