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It was a unanimous set of "aye" votes at around Noon today by the Los Angeles City Council that helped the plans to put an NFL stadium on the L.A. Live campus in Downtown L.A. to move forward. What the council voted on is called a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is not an iron-clad contract, but rather a spelling out of key guidelines and stipulations for the ambitious and contentious (to some) plan to build AEG's Farmers Field.
The public came forward to speak ahead of today's vote, some in rowdy, singing support for the stadium, others with concerns. Following public comment, various councilmembers spoke on the issue, working in just about all the football-related puns imaginable during their time at the mic.
Among the considerations the MOU maps out are what portions of the L.A. Convention Center space will be demolished and how the facility will be tended to during the construction phase as well as plans for its ultimate remodel. Additionally, the stadium must have a long-term commitment from the NFL for a football team to call the venue home. Plans for funding, including bonds, developer commitments, and tax revenue generated by the completed venue, are also mapped out in the MOU.