One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
How a Bill That Is Supposed To Boost the Downtown Stadium Could Actually Help the Subway to the Westside
(Map via Metro)
Anschutz Entertainment Group isn't the only big winner from a bill Governor Jerry Brown signed on Tuesday. The bill fast-tracks lawsuits against the proposed downtown stadium, but supporters of the slow-going subway to the Westside believe these bills could help them out, too, according to The Daily News.
The law speeds up any lawsuits filed under the state's landmark California Environmental Quality Act against projects that cost $100 million. These legal challenges have to be fast-tracked and heard in the Court of Appeals within 175 days. The deep-pocketed AEG lobbied heavily for the bill, saying that environmental lawsuits could bog down their proposed stadium project.
"It's time for big ideas and big projects like this," Brown said, as he signed the bill. He said he was backing the law because the state "has too many damn regulations." He also said the bill could spur job growth.
A law against too many lawsuits getting in the way of a big idea? This bill has local politicians salivating.
Sen. Alex Padilla, the bill's author said the proposed Purple Line subway that goes from mid-Wilshire to Westwood would easily fall within the purview of the law.
"The subway is a natural from a job-creation standpoint, from an investment standpoint, from an emission reduction and air quality standpoint," Padilla told The Daily News.
Of course, the Beverly Hills School District is not too happy about this, according to Streetsblog Los Angeles. The district has been preparing for a legal challenge against the Purple Line's environmental documents, because it is worried about a route that may run underneath Beverly Hills High School.
Sponsored message
Undoubtedly, there are huge projects all over the state getting a second look. Padilla himself mentioned that it could help out another development in his neck of the woods: NBCUniversal expansion, a sprawling office and residential project that developer Thomas Properties has proposed for Universal City.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
