The Dodgers gondola project lives to see another day: Metro board moves forward with plans

The controversial gondola proposal for Dodger Stadium overcame a vital hurdle on Thursday when the Metro Board of Directors voted to approve the final environmental impact report.

The vote means the project lives to see another day, but it will have to meet 31 conditions to move forward.

It also still needs approval from the L.A. City Council, Caltrans, and California State Parks.

The gondola proposal has drawn a lot of public attention, with supporters arguing it’ll increase economic opportunities and help get the city ready for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Opponents, on the other hand, have argued that the gondola is a luxury amenity built on the backs of low income communities.

About the new conditions 

A motion by L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who sits on the Metro’s board, added sweeping conditions to the project from the nonprofit Zero Emissions Transit (ZET).

“We didn't push the bar a little bit, we threw it miles down the road,” said Ara Najarian, who has served on the board for nearly 20 years. “This is the best set of protections that are being proposed for a community ever in the history of Metro.”

Included in the 31 conditions are requirements to:

• Set aside 10% of all gondola marketing opportunities for Chinatown businesses and community-based organizations
• Offer free unlimited rides for local Chinatown residents and businesses
• An anti-displacement fund for affordable housing, and money to support “small and historically marginalized ethnic businesses”

The concerns of opponents

Solis said there is a very real foundation for the community’s hesitation with the gondola. Chinatown and Elysian Park neighborhoods were “disrupted and destroyed” by transportation projects in the past, but Solis said “the project requires guarantees and guard rails.”

The motion also includes a condition that any future projects at or near the stadium parking lots dedicate at least 25% of the space toward affordable housing.

Chief Anthony Morales, of the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians Gabrieleno-Tongva, told LAist that the gondola will reopen wounds and continue the destruction of culturally sensitive landscape.

“It's profiting on our ancestral land, it's profiting on what they did 50 years ago when they displaced all those residents from Chavez Ravine to build the stadium,” Morales said.

What’s next 

The project now heads to the city and state for approval.

But L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian, who also sits on the Metro Board, warned that Thursday’s approval doesn’t mean future votes will go the same way.

“Councilmember [Eunisses] Hernandez will continue to advocate, and her advocacy within the city council might result in a very different outcome than whatever we approve today,” Krekorian said.

The backstory

The board was supposed to vote on the report late last month, but it was removed from the agenda after Hernandez, whose first district includes Dodger Stadium and parts of downtown L.A., introduced a motion demanding the project be put on hold.

During public comment, she urged the Metro Board to reject the gondola proposal and criticized the new conditions.

“While I appreciate that the board feels it has addressed some of the concerns, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that a project that needs more than 30 checks and balances placed on it to make it palatable, many of which are not actually enforceable by this body, is a project that cannot stand on its own two feet,” Hernandez said.

If the project is approved by all three parties, the proposal will then go back to the Metro Board for additional consideration.