The Clark County Commission yesterday voted 7-0 in favor of "use permits, waivers and design reviews" for the Raiders' planned 65,000-seat stadium, clearing "another hurdle in the team’s pursuit of relocating to Southern Nevada for the start" of the '20 NFL season, according to Richard Velotta of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. County staff had “recommended approval,” and Commission Chair Steve Sisolak has “shepherded the project through government reviews for months.” The final outcome “never seemed in doubt, though the Raiders have yet to solve the problem that has dogged them" since they purchased the site for $77.5M on May 1 -- a “lack of adequate parking on the 62 acres.” The county approval gives the Raiders a “year to develop a parking strategy as construction starts.” The vote “approved permits for 20 uses on the land: retail sales and service, restaurants, offices, live entertainment, alcohol sales and a museum among them.” It also “approved a series of nine waivers, the most critical of which” was the 85.4% reduction in the “number of required parking spaces from 16,250.” Meanwhile, the Raiders late Tuesday received word that a 225-foot-tall stadium would “not pose a hazard to commercial or military aircraft flying through Southern Nevada in a final report issued” by the FAA. Earlier yesterday, as representatives of the Raiders waited for the commission to “wade through several zoning and site plan requests on other projects,” Las Vegas Stadium Authority staff “issued a memorandum recommending that a final construction and design contract targeted for October approval be delayed, probably until February.” However, the delay “isn’t expected to affect the construction timeline” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 9/7).
SLOW AND PAINFUL: In Oakland, Jerry McDonald writes there has "never been an exit" like the Raiders' delayed move to Las Vegas. But it appears there will be "no mass exodus of the fan base." Raiders officials said that the season-ticket base at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum is “holding steady” at 50,000, and those who gave up their tickets after the Vegas vote were “quickly replaced off a waiting list the club says numbers 20,000.” Despite the waiting list, the Raiders have “no plans on removing the tarp from the East side structure known as Mt. Davis and freeing up 11,000 seats, citing game day experience related to security, parking lot space and concessions.” In dealing with the Bay Area fallout, the public stance of Owner Mark Davis is for fans to "blame me, not the team," while “behind the scenes the team is setting up shop in Las Vegas.” They also “threw the local fans a bone” by signing RB Marshawn Lynch, a “hometown hero.” Although the stadium will be at capacity, it “won’t necessarily be full of the same emotion.” And if the Raiders' season does not go well, all those sold seats “won’t necessarily have fans sitting in them on game day” (EAST BAY TIMES, 9/7). In S.F., Scott Ostler writes while the Raiders “play out the string in Oakland, milking dollars from loyal local fans, it’s decision time.” Stick with the team and “support them, up to and maybe even beyond their move?” Or “raise high the Jolly Roger middle finger, walk away and help the team take a multiyear financial keelhauling?” Ostler: “My heart is with the fans who are pulling the plug. Why support an organization that treats its fans as though they're the cardboard box the pizza came in?” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/7).
