Dodger Stadium gondola opponents say new addition to state bill unfairly favors developer Frank McCourt

L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez joined L.A. activists this week opposing the proposed aerial gondola to Dodger Stadium. Opposition to the proposed people mover isn’t new — but this time Hernandez and activists are calling on Sacramento lawmakers to take action.

If built, the $500 million project would whisk 5,000 visitors every hour from Union Station in downtown to Dodger Stadium in just a few minutes. Opponents say the construction would affect the historic park and surrounding neighborhoods, and contend the money should instead be invested in bolstering free shuttle buses.

L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez at a protest against a proposed gondola to Dodger Stadium.

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Courtesy Stop the Gondola

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Now, Senate Bill 71, which would exempt some transportation projects from state regulations, is at the center of the fight. That's because a provision added to the bill would require any appeals to the project be resolved in one year.

“[F]ix the bill, remove Section 3, and stop writing laws that give billionaires whatever they want,” Hernandez said, according to a copy of remarks sent by her office.

The billionaire in question is Frank McCourt, the former owner of the Dodgers who retains some control over Dodger Stadium parking lots, where the gondola terminal would be located.

Activists say the time limit favors McCourt.

“So the judicial review moves fast, if he wants, and .... he doesn't have to pay for that,” said Jon Christensen, a co-founder of the LA Parks Alliance, a group opposing the gondola.

McCourt Global, Inc., did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Nathan Click, a spokesperson for Zero Emissions Transit, the company developing the gondola, said in an email that it was "a shame" longtime opponents of the project "have resorted to outright fabrications to try and derail it."

"This non-profit project will reduce traffic, decrease pollution, expand public access to LA parks, and connect our neighborhoods," Click added. "That’s why the vast majority of Angelenos support the project, alongside a broad coalition of transportation safety advocates, clean air groups, and community organizations from the immediate surrounding neighborhoods."

People attend a protest against a proposed gondola to Dodger Stadium.

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Courtesy Stop the Gondola

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L.A. City Council weighs in

A state analysis of the bill and its new wording found only the gondola project would benefit from the provision. In response, on Aug. 6, the L.A. City Council voted to withdraw its support of the bill unless the provision is removed. The council agreed that the new provision could limit the ability to challenge potentially harmful public projects.

“For the residents in particular, it's a huge invasion and unnecessary infrastructure," said Phyllis Ling, who lives in Chinatown and is part of the group that’s opposing the project. "In my neighborhood, there would be a 98-foot-tall structure right across the street from my home… that would hold the motors that drive the gondolas."

The gondola was first proposed in 2018, at an estimated cost of $125 million. Since then, the project has ballooned in cost and stirred up opposition from nearby residents, as well as supporters of the nearly 25-year-old Los Angeles State Historic Park.

“The public resources code of California, which are the laws that govern our public resources, actually prohibit this kind of use of a state park,” said opponent Christensen, who is also a researcher at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

In his email, Click said the project would affect "less than 0.2 percent of the park’s physical footprint," leaving the rest of park land "untouched and available for the same community use."

A final ruling on whether the gondola complies with state law would have to be made by a court responding to a legal challenge, which makes the fight against the gondola, Christensen said, far from over.

The state Assembly Appropriations Committee is set to hear the bill on Wednesday.