In mid-April San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer sent a letter and 15 pages worth of questions to the San Diego Chargers asking for clarification on several aspects of their proposed citizens’ initiative for a new $1.8 billion Downtown stadium/convention center.
On Friday night City Hall got its answers.
The Chargers sent a 33-page letter responding to the Mayor’s concerns
The highlights:
• The initiative would not impose any obligation on the City to pay for operations and maintenance and capital costs for the Convention Center Expansion and Stadium out of the General Fund. The proposed increased Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) would be deposited into the Convention Center and Stadium Fund (to be established through the citizens’ initiative) and the San Diego Tourism and Marketing Fund.
• The initiative would not obligate the City to pay for any pre-development expenses out of the General Fund.
• The initiative would not obligate the City to pay for operations and maintenance costs, or capital improvement costs, for the convention center expansion and stadium out of the General Fund.
• Total square footage for the convention center expansion could be up to 385,000 square feet, in addition to other areas such as suites, boxes, club areas, concourses, and media centers.
• The Chargers would have to sign a deal not to relocate for at least 30 years BEFORE Bonds could be issued and before funds may be used to construct the project, except for pre-development expenses.
• If major renovations or improvements are needed inside the 30-year lease the Chargers and the City would enter in to “good faith negotiations” to see who finances the projects.
• Revenues from non-professional football events at both facilities would be available to pay for operations and maintenance and capital costs.
• Parking would be on a shared-use basis to avoid an oversupply that would deter mass transit use. The 1300 parking spaces required for the site would be available for Petco Park parking within the area. An Event Transportation Management Plan would be implemented to look at other parking possibilities.
• Relocation of the Metropolitan Transit System’s Imperial Ave. Division is not specifically discussed other than to say the team looks forward to having discussions about it.
• No timeline for construction completion is established.
• There will be a $650 million dollar private sector contribution for construction of the stadium/convention center.
Basically the points that were really hammered home were a funding mechanism will be set up by the proposed TOT and provide protection for the City’s General Fund, and the Chargers will provide the $650 million of private funding.
There are other issues still outstanding and to those, at each turn, the Chargers said they’re looking forward to discussing with City Hall. This response puts the onus squarely on Mayor Faulconer to now make public his decision on whether or not he will support the citizens’ initiative.
To read the full letter, click here.
