Gov Signs Bill for New NFL Stadium

Industry (myFOXla.com) - The governor today signed a bill intended to speed up construction of a 75,000-seat stadium complex in Industry, which developers hope will lure an NFL team back to the Los Angeles area.

The bill exempts activities associated with the development and operation of the stadium from the California Environmental Quality Act -- essentially cutting unnecessary red tape to get shovels in the ground, people to work and an NFL team in Los Angeles, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said.

"This is the best kind of action state government can create -- action that cuts red tape, generates jobs, is environmentally friendly and brings a continued economic boost to California," he said. "This legislation allows us to move forward with the construction of the nation's greenest football stadium and create thousands of jobs."

Construction of the 3 million-square-foot complex is expected to create more than 18,000 jobs and pump more than $760 million into the local economy every year without using taxpayer dollars, according to proponents.

The project also includes an orthopedic hospital, a movie and live performance theater, and office and retail space.

In addition to providing the Los Angeles area with a needed economic boost, the stadium would be the most energy efficient and environmentally sustainable NFL stadium in the country, according to Schwarzenegger.

Much of the complex would incorporate solar panels and landscaping using recycled water and is be built into a hillside, thus reducing the amount of steel and concrete used, the governor said.

In 2004, proponents completed and certified an Environmental Impact Report for a 4.8 million square foot project in the area. Four years later, a supplemental environmental report was completed for the downsized and current proposal that includes the NFL stadium.

Majestic Realty Co., which is heading the stadium project, helped develop Staples Center, the downtown Los Angeles home of the Lakers and Clippers basketball teams and the Kings hockey team.

But not everyone is happy about the project. Brigid Bjerke, a Walnut resident and City Council candidate, was on hand at today's event protesting the stadium effort.

"We are going to have our communities destroyed with the amount of traffic," Bjerke reporters. "This Grand Avenue here is our major thoroughfare, it runs north and south through the San Gabriel Valley. We will not be able to get out of our communities."