L.A. City Council member Bill Rosendahl is “calling on the developer of a proposed downtown NFL football stadium to be more specific on how it would reduce traffic congestion and the project's effects on nearby neighborhoods,” according to Kate Linthicum of the L.A. TIMES. Rosendahl asked Farmers Field developer AEG to “make clear how it would minimize car trips to the stadium on game days and make firm commitments to create park-and-ride facilities and ticket bundling programs, which would include public transportation fares in game ticket packages.” Rosendahl said the EIR commissioned by AEG “is too vague and doesn’t get into the specifics.” Linthicum noted Rosendahl is "one of several members of a special stadium review committee that took up AEG's environmental analysis Monday.” Officials said that the analysis “drew 173 comments during a 45-day public comment period.” Senior City Planner Jon Foreman told the committee that “the city had received 20 requests for mediation by commenters, who will now have the opportunity to meet with representatives for AEG and city officials to air their complaints.” Natural Resource Defense Council attorney David Pettit said, “I am confident that we can work out these problems in a timely way that will not compromise the construction date of the stadium.” Linthicum noted the Los Angeles Community Action Network, a community group made up mostly of downtown residents, also "issued requests for mediation" (LATIMES.com, 6/4).
CHANGE OF SCENERY: In L.A., Pham & Fritz noted Entertainment Software Association President Michael Gallagher said that E3, the video game industry’s largest trade show, “may relocate in 2013 if issues around the construction of the proposed Farmers Field and rebuilt convention center are not resolved ‘imminently.'" The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau states that E3 is “among the city's most lucrative conferences, generating approximately $40 million in direct spending on such things as lodging, restaurants and taxis, as well as temporary construction workers and hundreds of booth attendants during the four-day show.” Gallagher: “We have a number of issues that still need to be resolved. If we can't resolve them, we are preparing to go elsewhere” (L.A. TIMES, 6/5).
