Proposed downtown Chargers stadium with Coronado in the background.
A potential downtown Chargers stadium may be closer to reality as a result of last-minute legislation passed Friday morning as part of the new state budget.
The arrangement, advanced by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, eliminates the present $2.9 billion cap on a downtown redevelopment plan adopted in 1992, theoretically making it possible for the city to build a new stadium east of Petco Park, estimated to cost at least $800 million, hundreds of millions of dollars of which could come from public spending.
If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the measure, San Diego city officials could sidestep an 18-month vetting process for lifting the cap that it had already embarked upon. That was to include a $500,000 study, now under way, examining whether downtown was blighted.
Read the entire Union Tribune article here.
