Environmental OK of Raiders’ Irwindale Stadium Plans Seen

Approval of an environmental impact report on the proposed Los Angeles Raiders stadium in Irwindale is now expected by mid-January, ushering in a crucial period during which Irwindale and the Raiders will try to secure financing and reach a final agreement for building the 62,000- to 70,000-seat facility.

At the conclusion of a sparsely attended environmental hearing in the Irwindale gymnasium Monday night, at which only scattered opposition was expressed to the stadium plans, city and team officials said they are hopeful that they will get quick clearance from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge for proceeding with the arrangements as soon as city councilmen approve the report.

A September, 1987, court order held up the Irwindale-Raiders deal until after the environmental impact report was finished. At the time, there were predictions from city and team officials that it would take no more than six months. But it has already taken 15 months and cost the small San Gabriel Valley city about $1.2 million.

At the hearing, some environmentalists lamented the possible loss of wildlife, a few residents of neighboring towns expressed concern about traffic and one Irwindale man who has joined a lawsuit against the project suggested that the water table is so high that water polo rather than football might be played in a completed stadium. However, officials said little appears to stand in the way of adopting the environmental report.

Jim Ragan, who conducted the hearing for the city, said both the number of speakers and the vehemence of their discourse were much less than for many environmental hearings he has chaired in other localities.

Adoption of the report will “clear a big hurdle and be a big milestone in this project,” said Raiders senior executive John Herrera at the end of the hearing. “We’re pleased this is almost over, especially since it’s taken over a year to do it.”

But Herrera agreed that the key question now is how to arrange financing for the stadium.

With preparatory work, the cost is expected to exceed $100 million. And according to terms of the court order by Judge Charles Jones, no decisions about financing can be made until the environmental impact report is approved and the court has given the go-ahead.

“So nothing has been finalized,” said one close observer of the matter Tuesday, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Once the judge approves, the Raiders and the city will then plunge headlong into finalizing the financing and the definitive agreement between them. Right now, the (Irwindale) City Council can’t vote on anything.”

There were reports several months ago that a rise in interest rates, and new uncertainties about the contractual arrangements for repayment of bonds between the city and the team had raised questions about the viability of the proposed stadium deal.

Contract Can Be Extended

Within the next few months, it was clear after the hearing, the Raiders will either be proceeding with an Irwindale stadium or pursuing other plans for playing when their Coliseum contract expires after the 1991 season.

That contract contains options whereby the Raiders could continue to play in the Coliseum until 2006, but no talks about such an eventuality are under way, according to Coliseum and Raiders officials, pending developments in Irwindale.

Meanwhile, the team has had nothing to say about rumors of talks about moving back to Oakland or moving to some other city, in case the Irwindale plans should not go through.