Los Angeles leaders, residents push back against Dodger Stadium gondola project
Local leaders and community members in Los Angeles gathered Monday to rally against the controversial Dodger Stadium gondola project, this time taking their frustrations out on politicians in Sacramento.
Monday's rally at Los Angeles State Historic Park took aim at SB71, which is currently in committee. The bill, penned by San Francisco Democrat Scott Weiner, would extend exemptions from certain environmental regulations for qualifying transportation projects.
"Public transportation is critical to California's future, and we need every tool in the toolbox to continue to expand and improve it," said Senator Wiener in January.
Critics, like L.A. City Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Ysabel Jurado say decisions like that need to be made at a local level rather than statewide.
"This is a special exemption that goes beyond [The California Environmental Quality Act] to undermine due process, cut off community voices, and strip away the city's land-use authority. That's a big deal," Hernandez said. "The state wants to take control over what we do with our local land and our neighborhoods."
If the bill is passed, it could fast-track the project that's targeting an opening before the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games.
CBS News Los Angeles reached out to the figureheads behind the project, like former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his foundation, but had yet to hear back as of 1 p.m.
Groups opposed to the project, which would link Union Station to Dodger Stadium via an aerial gondola spanning more than one mile, question its environmental viability. They added that the Chinatown station would bulldoze two acres of green space and would be an invasion of privacy for the residents below.
The most outspoken organized group against the project, StopTheGondola, says there's no guarantee that taxpayers won't be paying for part of the rumored $500 million bill.
"The developers have failed to provide important information about this vanity project's safety, long-term operation costs, and who pays for it if it runs over budget," a section of the group's website reads. "There is no guarantee taxpayers won't be left holding the bag on expensive construction change orders, other cost overruns, and ongoing maintenance and operations."
Rather than a gondola, which it says could disrupt residents in L.A.'s Chinatown and other nearby neighborhoods, say the city should prioritize the expansion of a free shuttle system that could bus Dodgers fans to-and-from the stadium.
