State Supreme Court Denies Petition To Halt Warriors New Arena
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – The California Supreme Court Monday denied a petition to halt construction of the new Golden State Warriors arena along the San Francisco waterfront.
The decision came hours before the team was to host a ground breaking ceremony for the new Chase Center which will be located near AT&T Park in San Francisco's South Beach neighborhood.
"As you know, our opponents filed a petition with the California Supreme Court seeking to overturn our entitlements," team president Rick Welts said in a prepared statement. "I am happy to announce that, this morning, the Supreme Court denied the petition and therefore will not consider the appeal."
The 11-acre project at 16th and Third streets includes an 18,000-seat arena and 600,000 square feet of office spaces, as well as a new 5.5-acre park.
The project was approved by the Board of Supervisors in December of 2015 but has been delayed until now by litigation.
"We have been looking forward to this day since we first had the vision of building a privately financed state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex in San Francisco," Welts said.
A group called the Mission Bay Alliance, which says it is made up of University of California at San Francisco donors, stakeholders, physicians and faculty members, filed multiple lawsuits challenging the project, alleging that it will hurt emergency response times and access to the neighboring UCSF Medical Center, especially on game days.
A San Francisco Superior Court judge in July rejected two lawsuits the group had filed challenging the city's environmental review and approval process. The Mission Bay Alliance appealed, but that appeal was rejected in November.
The group then took their fight to the state Supreme Court which rejected their petition on Monday.
Despite the challenges, the project has had strong backing from local and state officials, including san Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.
"This new venue will not only ensure our beloved Warriors remain in the Bay Area, but it will fill a void in San Francisco's portfolio of arts and events facilities," Lee said in a statement. "It will provide enormous economic benefits, including thousands of new jobs and millions in new tax revenues for The City. And the Warriors are doing it the right way - financing this arena entirely without public funding."
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