Developer Scraps Plan For Chargers Stadium Over Lack Of Support

Quick Dismissal Should End All Discussion About Building New Chargers Facility

San Diego developer Perry Dealy yesterday told the Chargers and the office of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders that he and "what was billed as a dream team of local land experts" are "mothballing plans to replace Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley," according to Matthew Hall of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Dealy wrote in an e-mail to the team and Sanders, "What was a sincere and honest effort to independently develop a concept and framework that may have some life is not an option at this point in time." Attorney Charles Black, who co-chaired the stadium effort with Dealy, said that the "quick dismissal should end all discussion about building a new facility for the Chargers on the 166-acre Qualcomm Stadium site." Black: "It appears as though there isn't going to be a new stadium in Qualcomm's future, at least not one where the Chargers play." Dealy last week unveiled his plans for a 70,000-seat Chargers stadium on the Qualcomm site, and Black said the group already was "beginning to see on the ... day that that unveiling occurred that the proposal wasn't getting traction." Black: "My thought was if it's not going to get traction, we certainly don't want to create problems for others." Sanders spokesperson Darren Pudgil said that the mayor "intends to keep working with the Chargers on the team's search for a home." Pudgil: "Given the circumstances, they made the right decision. Any proposal will have to have the support of both the taxpayers and the Chargers, and this clearly didn't have the support of the Chargers, so it wouldn't have made any sense to move this forward." Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani said in an e-mail, "This announcement will make it easier for the Chargers to continue to focus on sites in San Diego County that may have a realistic chance of success" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/4).  Fabiani added, “Our goal is to have a publicly acceptable site selected by the end of 2009, if possible. Once that occurs, we will present a financing plan to the public for a vote, which could occur as early as November 2010” (KFFL.com, 6/3).

FOR THE RECORD: Prior to scrapping the stadium plans, Dealy Tuesday appeared on San Diego's XEPRS-AM to discuss his proposal, saying, "The last thing we would want to see is (the Chargers) leaving town." Dealy noted that his group approached the Chargers first before going public with the plans. Dealy: "They encouraged us to go forward on our own. They hadn't seen the plan or knew any of the details, and once we finished up with the plan they took a decision upon themselves ... and didn't want to meet with us." Fabiani, who appeared on XEPRS earlier to discuss the project from the Chargers' perspective, confirmed that the team spoke with Dealy prior to the announcement of the project. Fabiani: "We said we welcome new ideas and he said, 'I'm not going to do anything unless the mayor supports it, unless you support it,' and I don't know what changed between then and now. He did get himself some TV time so maybe that was the goal in all of this. But the fact is that if the mayor doesn't support the project -- which he doesn't -- it's hard to see how something like this is going to move forward." Fabiani said of the plan, "The problem, simply put, is that it can never actually be carried out. It's a pie in the sky deal because it is incredibly dense. ... Our view is we need to focus on things that could actually happen" (XEPRS-AM, 6/2).