Well, this happened. While the San Diego Chargers and the people of San Diego wait for the Mayor's stadium advisory group to come up with a proposal that is acceptable to all parties, they have already squashed the dream of a downtown stadium next to PETCO Park.
This is bad news, in that it's one more thing that the team (and Mark Fabiani) can point at as a reason to reject the group's proposal outright.
It's also good news, in that this is the right plan to pursue. Here is how Jeff previously outlined this option....
Select the Qualcomm Site, for the following reasons.
- The land is already available and zoned for a stadium.
- The cost of building there might be cheaper than downtown, especially if you're not building a combination stadium-convention center.
- You'll have support (or at least no opposition) from the hoteliers or other agencies (e.g. the Port Authority) because you're not on their turf.
- Most importantly, you'll have a better chance of getting a waiver for the otherwise required Environmental Impact Report (EIR), as a stadium has already been there for 48 years and the environmental issues are already documented, such as the San Diego River Flood Plain and contamination from the Tank Farm. If you can't get a waiver, at least you'll have the EIR in April of 2016, as opposed to Fall 2016 and construction can start sooner.
- Lastly, the remaining land next to a new stadium could be leased or sold for future development and additional revenue.
Now all we can do is wait and hope that this proposal is enough to convince the Chargers to stay. Or hope that Stan Kroenke and the Rams find a way to start construction before the Carson stadium project can.