LOS ANGELES -- The developer behind a $1.2 billion plan to build a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles got a key boost Tuesday with a law that will help it avoid lengthy court fights.
Billing the measure as a job creation push, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill at a Los Angeles Convention Center ceremony with executives from Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is proposing to build a 72,000-seat stadium next to the convention center.
With California's unemployment rate in double digits, Brown said the stadium, to be called Farmers Field, would create 12,000 construction jobs and 11,000 permanent jobs.
"This is the way we get people working," he said.
The bill would expedite resolution of legal challenges to AEG's project, sending lawsuits over its environmental impact directly to the California Court of Appeal and bypassing the Superior Court. The appeals court would have to make a ruling within 175 days.
AEG would thus avoid a protracted and costly court battle that could hold up construction of the stadium, which could break ground as early as June if it passes environmental muster and secures an NFL team.
In return, AEG, which owns the Staples Center and L.A. Live entertainment complex next to the convention center, pledged to build a "green stadium" and make it public-transit friendly.
The bill's co-author, state Sen. Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat, said creating jobs while maintaining environmental protections was key in hammering out the measure.
"With unemployment over 12 percent and over 13 percent in the Los Angeles region, we do need to act with a sense of urgency," he said.
AEG president Tim Leiweke said the legislation shows the NFL that the stadium has statewide backing.
"We now have a bill that gives us certainty that this stadium will be built," Leiweke said. "Now we put on our best effort and get the NFL back here."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
