With 500 boxes of petitions stacked up containing the signatures of more than 118,000 San Diegans, the SoccerCity Proposal was submitted Monday.
Goal SD, the local group behind the privately-funded SoccerCity proposal, submitted the plan to the San Diego City Council, according to the group. It could either be approved or sent to a public vote.
Nick Stone, the project manager for Goal SD and a few partners including Steve Altman and Landon Donovan, delivered the petition boxes to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters at 10:30 a.m.
"Number one sport in the world -- it is hands down the single most popular sport in the world," said Stone.
"With the delivery of these signatures, we're effectively now showing the level of support in the community for this project," Stone told NBC 7. "This will allow us to go in record time frame to the ballot."
They need 71,646 of the signatures to be confirmed as valid for the popular proposal to go through the council. Stone says it should take about 30 days for the checks to be completed.
"It provides a new professional sports franchise to town, and it does it in a way that doesn't ask for a penny of taxpayers' dollars to bring sports to the city of San Diego," said Stone.
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Stone also believes that the SoccerCity proposal could help attract extra funding for local schools.
"It creates a massive tax base and a real solution for San Diego State University," said Stone. "The huge tax base will help fund the schools who are obviously out today with yet more news of cuts."
The plan is to privately fund a spacious river park, a multi-use stadium for professional soccer and college football, a sports and entertainment district with restaurants, bars and shops, as well as other office space, according to the group.
The 166-acre site would be designed for joint use, conveniently located alongside the San Diego Trolley Line.
