The Warriors' push to relocate from Oakland to S.F.’s Mission Bay neighborhood yesterday "cleared a key hurdle," as a judge "ruled against a group that had filed multiple lawsuits to kill the project," according to a front-page piece by J.K. Dineen of the S.F. CHRONICLE. A judge ruled that the city’s environmental review of the proposed arena "was adequate, rejecting arguments it had failed to consider environmental impacts, including alternative sites for the arena." Warriors President & COO Rick Welts said, “We look forward to breaking ground soon." Dineen notes the ruling marks the "latest milestone in a 15-month fight between the Warriors and the Mission Bay Alliance, which is funded by a group of donors to UCSF." The group "had argued that the 18,500-seat arena would jam area streets with traffic, slowing down access to the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay." The group also said that a basketball arena in Mission Bay "is at odds with the cluster of life science research and health care centers that has taken root in the neighborhood." The Mission Bay Alliance "has just five days to decide whether to challenge the ruling." Osha Meserve, a land-use attorney representing the alliance, said, "At this point we are reviewing the ruling and weighing our options” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/19). CSNBAYAREA.com's Monte Poole wrote yesterday's decision was a "crucial court victory that positions them to begin development" of the $1B, 18,000-seat multi-purpose arena "maybe before the end of the year." Put another way, the Warriors have moved from 60% of the way "to putting a shovel in the ground" to about 90% (CSNBAYAREA.com, 7/18).
