Opinion: What Happened to the NFL?*
by Nina Chomsky, LVAA President
Although there seems to be a lull in hard facts, the rumors about the possibility of a National Football League team leasing the Rose Bowl abound.
Some say AEG is out. Some say Dodger Stadium money is in. And since the NFL did not announce a team for Los Angeles by this year's deadline, some are saying the possibility of an NFL team in the Rose Bowl is dead.
More to the point, some ask if the Coalition for Preservation of the Arroyo's legal challenge of the related City-certified environmental impact report (EIR) was premature.
Our response? Powerful forces continue to push for a temporary NFL lease of up to five years. Also, the amendment City Council made to the ordinance, which permits up to 13 NFL games in the Rose Bowl each year (doubling the number of Rose Bowl displacement events), never expires and, as it stands (subject to the outcome of the legal challenge) has cleared all environmental hurdles.
To question timing, of course, begs the central issue: When is the correct time to study the issue? Before we have specifics? Before we know whether the possibility of an NFL lease still exists?
That's exactly what the City did: "study" a factless possibility to clear the way for future NFL negotiations. The City admits this. Members of the City Council have publicly stated: "We'll take care of you (citizens) later."
And let's not forget that the purpose of an adequate EIR, especially in this case, should have been to protect us, our neighborhoods and the Central Arroyo. That can only be accomplished by identifying and adopting enforceable, performance-based, mitigation against the negative impact of an NFL lease of the Rose Bowl. That's why we believe that permitting the City to sidestep its environmental obligations so it can freely negotiate with the NFL is neither acceptable nor legal.
The Coalition for Preservation of the Arroyo is composed of the East Arroyo Neighborhood Preservation Committee, the Linda Vista~Annandale Association, and the San Rafael Neighborhoods Association, and is supposed by the West Pasadena Residents' Association.
We encourage you to support the NFL EIR litigation. Help us protect our neighborhoods and the Central Arroyo. To read more and contribute, go to lvaa.net, srnapasadena.org, or wpra.net.
* reprinted with permission from the WPRA Newsletter (Spring 2013)
Some say AEG is out. Some say Dodger Stadium money is in. And since the NFL did not announce a team for Los Angeles by this year's deadline, some are saying the possibility of an NFL team in the Rose Bowl is dead.
More to the point, some ask if the Coalition for Preservation of the Arroyo's legal challenge of the related City-certified environmental impact report (EIR) was premature.
Our response? Powerful forces continue to push for a temporary NFL lease of up to five years. Also, the amendment City Council made to the ordinance, which permits up to 13 NFL games in the Rose Bowl each year (doubling the number of Rose Bowl displacement events), never expires and, as it stands (subject to the outcome of the legal challenge) has cleared all environmental hurdles.
To question timing, of course, begs the central issue: When is the correct time to study the issue? Before we have specifics? Before we know whether the possibility of an NFL lease still exists?
That's exactly what the City did: "study" a factless possibility to clear the way for future NFL negotiations. The City admits this. Members of the City Council have publicly stated: "We'll take care of you (citizens) later."
And let's not forget that the purpose of an adequate EIR, especially in this case, should have been to protect us, our neighborhoods and the Central Arroyo. That can only be accomplished by identifying and adopting enforceable, performance-based, mitigation against the negative impact of an NFL lease of the Rose Bowl. That's why we believe that permitting the City to sidestep its environmental obligations so it can freely negotiate with the NFL is neither acceptable nor legal.
The Coalition for Preservation of the Arroyo is composed of the East Arroyo Neighborhood Preservation Committee, the Linda Vista~Annandale Association, and the San Rafael Neighborhoods Association, and is supposed by the West Pasadena Residents' Association.
We encourage you to support the NFL EIR litigation. Help us protect our neighborhoods and the Central Arroyo. To read more and contribute, go to lvaa.net, srnapasadena.org, or wpra.net.
* reprinted with permission from the WPRA Newsletter (Spring 2013)