Angelenos weigh in on potential Los Angeles NFL stadium

Rival proposals for pro football stadiums in greater Los Angeles are moving along. At a forum in downtown L.A. Thursday, representatives of both massive projects sought to soothe concerns about planning and environmental impacts.

Cowboys Stadium in Texas is the newest in the NFL. But L.A. environmentalists don't want to see that kind of project in these parts.

Natural Resources Defense Council lawyer David Pettit told listeners at a Cal State L.A. forum a story about a friend who visited the Dallas team's new park. "He had a 40 minute – four-zero-minute walk from where he parked his car to the stadium and they had porta-potties on the way. In terms of use of land, that is not our idea of how to design a good project."

Air pollution from cars and congestion is one environmental issue. Among others that matter, Pettit says, are the energy stadium lights use and the way work crews clean up all the empty beer cups.

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"We also have a bias in favor of urban infill and against greenfields development in the exurbs," says Pettit.

That means Pettit likes the idea of a downtown L.A> stadium better than the one billionaire Ed Roski wants to locate in a field in the city of Industry. Staples Center owner AEG is backing the stadium project connected to L.A.'s convention center.

That company's Dan Beckerman refused to say whether AEG wants to block future court challenges to its environmental planning process as Roski has. "We want to craft solutions to any issues that might come up. There are predatory litigators out there who seek to hijack the environmental process for their own profit. Not having legitimate environmental concerns, but merely seeking to extract some ransom under the guise of environmentalists."

Last year the state legislature granted a judicial review waiver to the City of Industry project. L.A. City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who chairs the committee studying the downtown L.A. stadium, said AEG's planning process should follow existing state law.

"I would prefer that they not seek an exemption," says Perry. "I would prefer that we go through a full-bodied process that allows everybody who wants to come to the table to come to the table and if a project is good and it has merit they can certainly sustain themselves through a vigorous process."

Perry and other L.A. leaders have vowed that no project can imperil the city's general fund. So far, no teams have committed to playing either in L.A. or at Majestic Realty's site in the City of Industry.

Majestic's John Semcken says his project is shovel-ready – but he admits it doesn't have a team ready to move right in. "You have to get the public's approval. But to be perfectly honest, if you get the public's approval, that's not as important as getting 24 of the 32 owners of the National Football League's approval. So our project is all about giving the National Football League everything they want."

Right now the NFL mostly wants to avoid a lockout or strike that could shorten next season and cut into profits. The delay the labor dispute's causing could leave plenty of room for studying the potential environmental effects of a stadium in L.A. County.