Carson City Council Moves Forward With NFL Stadium Plan

The proposal was one of three on the table for a Southern California NFL stadium

The Carson City Council on Tuesday cleared the path for a proposed stadium that could become home to the NFL's San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders.

The 3-0 vote Tuesday by the council marks a significant step forward for plans to lure the NFL back to the Los Angeles area after a two-decade drought without a team in the nation's second-largest media market.

In the council chambers packed with NFL fans, a steady stream of speakers urged the council to move ahead with plans for the stadium, and not bother waiting to put a ballot measure before voters – the same fast-track Inglewood took for its proposed stadium.

Mayor Albert Robles said he hopes NFL owners meeting tomorrow get the message that Carson is ready to go.

"This project is going to be built on a landfill that that's completely remediated and safe enough for homes, and if it's safe enough for homes it's definitely safe enough for a stadium," Mayor Robles added.

The Chargers and Raiders announced in February they were  working on a joint proposal to build a 72,000-seat stadium at Del Amo Boulevard and the San Diego (405) Freeway in Carson. However, this is dependent on them being unable to strike deals for new facilities in their respective cities.

A major step was taken toward getting the NFL stadium built in Carson after a petition was delivered to city hall last month. While 8,041 signatures were needed, the group Carson2gether managed to get almost double that number.

Going through the initiative process allows the project to avoid lengthy and expensive environmental reviews.

In addition to the stadium, the latest project would also include a 350-room hotel, 850,000 square feet of commercial, entertainment and other uses, and a minimum of 10,000 parking spaces.

According to a staff report to the Carson City Council, the Chargers-Raiders stadium proposal would not require any city funds for "construction, overruns, maintenance or capital improvements." The report concluded that the stadium would give the city a "signature project."

The Inglewood City Council has already approved a plan by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke to build a stadium at the former Hollywood Park racetrack site.

Members voted unanimously on Feb. 24 to approve the 80,000-seat stadium. Despite this, the Rams have not announced any plans of moving back to the Los Angeles area.

LA has not had an NFL team since 1994. Officials in Industry and Inglewood also are considering stadium plans.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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