Inglewood Council Unanimously Votes To Approve $2B NFL Stadium
INGLEWOOD (CBSLA.com) — The Inglewood City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a massive development project to lure the NFL back to Los Angeles.
Developers turned the heat up on the possibility of building what could be the country's most expensive football stadium ever, as the Inglewood City Council met Tuesday to debate the plan.
The City Council of Inglewood voted to approve the $2 billion, 80,000-seat stadium plans for the stadium.
Many members of the public showed up at the meeting on Tuesday evening, wearing Rams jerseys.
The issue remains, however, on how much of the development's tab will fall on the taxpayers. Supporters of the stadium say taxpayers will not be responsible for the development, while other sources indicate that, once the stadium is built, and the city gets its $25 million in annual revenue, the developers may receive as much as $100 million over the next five years in excess tax revenue.
"Think of all the revenue that's going to come," one supporter stated to the council. "Think about Super Bowls, think about the Olympics, think about hotels, shopping, concerts, all these restaurants full of people, generating revenue. Inglewood is going to be the city of champions, and you guys can do it. You're writing history today. Make it happen."
However, not everyone in attendance was in favor of the development, with some pointing towards the potential for a more hazardous traffic situation.
"I hope that you put this off and let the people of this community vote after they've had an opportunity to look at the entire 260 pages on this initiative, the additional 187 pages, because you know what, we have traffic issues in the form of 16,000 operating," one opposed resident said. "80,000 is significantly greater. To pretend we have no traffic issues when we have larger than that of Dodger Stadium is slightly ridiculous."
The council may vote to approve the initiative Tuesday night, bypassing a public vote. Or, it could vote to have the initiative placed on a ballot in Inglewood in June as a referendum.
A team could be in LA by 2018, if everything moves ahead.
