Board of Supervisors Vote On LA Clippers Inglewood Arena

INGLEWOOD, CA – The Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 Tuesday to support a state bill, which was stalled in committee, to streamline environmental reviews for the planned Los Angeles Clippers' Inglewood arena. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose district includes Inglewood, recommended that the board back Senate Bill 789, saying the arena would generate 30,000 construction and permanent jobs.

Supervisors Hilda Solis and Sheila Kuehl abstained from the vote.

In his motion, Ridley-Thomas said the California Environmental Quality Act, designed to identify and reduce environmental impacts, was sometimes "used by project opponents as a tactical tool to delay projects."

The NBA arena's project manager told the Los Angeles Times that the developers would still write an environmental impact report and hold public hearings.

"Under this bill, we would remain obligated to work through the complete process and the bill would only fix the timeline for lawsuits that might be filed by our competitors," Chris Meany told the newspaper.

SB 789, sponsored by Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, originally included exemptions for transportation projects for the 2028 Olympic Games, but was amended after the LA 2028 Committee said it didn't need the help.

The bill was also drafted to give the city the ability to take non-residential properties through eminent domain in order to get the facility built, but after the bill failed on Friday to pass the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, it was amended.

The latest version of the bill available online strikes the clause on eminent domain.

The bill is supported by labor and trade unions and Inglewood city associations, but has gotten pushback from a long list of environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club California, Natural Resources Defense Council, Coalition for Clean Air, the Trust for Public Land and Earthjustice.

The Clippers lease at Staples Center runs through 2024.

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Image via Keith Allison/Flickr