The Golden State Warriors cleared a major legal hurdle toward their new waterfront arena in San Francisco.
On Tuesday, the California State of Appeals upheld a previous decision validating the environmental impact report for the team's new San Francisco arena.
A group called the Mission Bay Alliance had argued the report was flawed. The court did not buy their argument.
The Mission Bay Alliance provided the following statement on Tuesday:
“The Mission Bay Alliance, Jennifer Wade, and SaveMuni are deeply disappointed with today’s court ruling. Our legal team is reviewing the ruling and considering options. We believe that the proposed Warriors’ arena is incompatible with the Mission Bay South neighborhood and would result in blocked access to UCSF hospitals, dangerous air pollution, and traffic gridlock throughout the community.”
Meanwhile, the Warriors hope to break ground on the new Mission Bay arena in a few months. The Warriors plan on leaving Oakland and moving to San Francisco in three years.
Warriors President/COO Rick Welts issued the following statement:
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“We’re very pleased by the Appellate Court’s ruling. We engaged in an extensive public planning process and we were approved by every board, agency and regulatory body we went before.
Now our project has been upheld by the trial court and the court of appeals. This decision clears the path for us to build a new state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue and bring the Warriors back home to San Francisco.
We look forward to breaking ground soon.”
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee provided the following statement after the decision:
“We are thrilled with today’s ruling. As a world class city, we’ve just upped our game with a world class arena that will bring home our Golden State Warriors.
The state-of-the-art sports and entertainment arena will provide a venue for a new-level of cultural events in our City and the Mission Bay neighborhood. The arena will also create new permanent jobs for our residents and millions of dollars in additional revenue for our City. It is the first NBA arena in the country to be privately financed and built on private property.
Thanks to the support of UCSF, the biotech community, and the Mission Bay, Dogpatch and Potrero community organizations, we will soon break ground on a multipurpose arena that works for the neighborhood and serves the entire Bay Area.
The Warriors will inspire generations of fans in an arena that will create timeless memories for current and future San Franciscans.”
