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Appeal against proposed Warriors' SF Mission Bay arena rejected

Published  December 8, 2015 9:17pm PST
News
KTVU FOX 2

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously 10-0 Tuesday to reject an appeal that says the environmental impact report (EIR) of the proposed Golden State Warriors Mission Bay arena project is flawed.

The appeal was filed by the Mission Bay Alliance, a group that opposes the arena, and said they will likely now sue to prevent the Warriors from breaking ground. The Warriors said they would be ready to break ground as early as January 2016. 

Dozens showed up on the steps of City Hall to voice their support for the 18,000 plus-seat arena.

Nathan Ballard, spokesman for the Golden State Warriors, said the organization is ready for plans to move forward.

“We have an undefeated record of going through the commissions and getting public approvals and today, here we are the Board of Supervisors,” Ballard said before the vote. “This is like the finals and we’re hoping to get approval today.”

As of early Tuesday evening, the board was still considering public comments, but the Warriors had already called the vote, which eventually came in around 7:30 p.m. 

The Warriors sent out a press release Thursday evening:  

In addition to upholding the arena’s EIR, the Board will also vote on whether to pass the Mission Bay Transportation Improvement Fund, which would dedicate nearly $10 million each year, for the life of the arena, for transportation and infrastructure improvements in the Mission Bay neighborhood. This is on top of more than $55 million that the project is already set to generate for transportation and infrastructure improvements in Mission Bay, and the $125 million for parks, open space and affordable housing in the neighborhood. All these funds are generated by the project itself.

“We have widespread support from the community,” Ballard added. “We’re going to win.”

“We have been overwhelmed by the positive support and encouragement from the neighborhood and from the city as a whole,” said Rick Welts, President and COO of the Warriors.