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Reporter David Nazar has this report on a possible move to Santa Ana; the net-net here — nobody knows anything or will say anything about a possible move.
We do know Chivas USA is committed to the Los Angeles market and is likely talking to a number of cities in an attempt to get the best deal possible. We have estimated the cost at between $500 to $750 million to bring Chivas to Santa Ana which seems a stretch for a city already running a deficit.
Having attended several Galaxy games over the years, a facility like the Home Depot Center is an idea place to play soccer. And the more you go, the more you notion. Side streets approaching the stadium with guards and roadblocks to keep fans out. Traffic nightmares (it took an hour to find parking for last year’s Western Conference final between the Galaxy and FC Dallas).
Then there is this story what neighbors in Carson think of the Home Depot Center. From the story:
“Anschutz Entertainment Group promised to have minimal impact on the community when it leased 125 acres from California State University, Dominguez Hills and began development of the $150-million sports complex in 2001. Former Carson Mayor Gil Smith is a founder of the university and lives in a home that backs right up to the Home Depot Center. Smith said he initially supported the building of the Center, but now feels that he was deceived.
“It’s a beautiful stadium and I thought it would be a great asset to the city of Carson,” he said, “but between the noise and the traffic it is impossible to even enjoy the comfort of my own home.”
Prior to the construction of the official Olympic-training stadium with facilities for soccer, tennis and cycling, Anschutz Entertainment Group presented an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to the Carson City Council. According to the EIR, the Home Depot Center was not expected to significantly alter traffic flow in Carson or increase the amount of noise in surrounding neighborhoods. Carson Mayor Jim Dear and the city council approved the report and construction of the stadium began. Midway through the construction process, however, developers amended the EIR to show that the Home Depot Center would, in fact, significantly affect the city in terms of noise and traffic.
The updated EIR said, “significant noise impacts are anticipated as a result of crowd noise, spectator noise from parking lots and increased vehicular traffic.” Additionally, the plans for the Home Depot Center, which contains a 20,000-seat tennis stadium and a 27,000-seat soccer stadium, did not allocate sufficient space for parking. “A sold-out Saturday evening event will result in a shortfall of approximately 867 on-site parking spaces,” according to the amended EIR.”
So we continue to ask, if the city is committed to bringing Chivas to Santa Ana, how does the city intend to pay for it?
Sal Tinajero is commited to finding the funds to hire a full time PIO to answer that very question. Sal will just need to lay off a couple more city employees first.
Chivas could be a very lucrative payday for both myself and the Santa Ana City Council members.
Vincent Sarmiento really wants get this show on the road so he can take many donations from Chivas to fund his Assembly campaign, all legally of course.