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San Francisco

A’s sued over environmental report on plan for waterfront ballpark

Suit claims study failed to consider effects on port operations, sparks more talk of move to Las Vegas

A rendering of Oakland Athletics’ ballpark and Oakland Athletics’ president Dave Kaval (Twitter, Getty)
A rendering of Oakland Athletics’ ballpark and Oakland Athletics’ president Dave Kaval (Twitter, Getty)

The Oakland Athletics’ proposed new home on Howard Terminal is running into some trouble, as shipping and trucking companies press legal challenges to the plan for baseball on the waterfront.

A group of shipping and trucking companies filed a suit in Alameda County Superior Court over the city’s approval of what it claims is a flawed environmental impact report that did not address how the ballpark and an accompanying mixed-use development would affect operations at the port, the Mercury News reported.

The city council approved the environmental impact report in February, declaring it met the California Environmental Quality Act requirements.

The suit claims the report failed to disclose all the environmental impacts of the proposed project and how they would be offset. The plaintiffs are the East Oakland Stadium Alliance, Schnitzer Steel, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, the Harbor Trucking Association, California Trucking Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

“The A’s proposal to build a stadium and luxury condominiums, office and retail development will cause major disruptions and impacts to both the surrounding community and the operations of the Port, yet the EIR did not fully address these concerns or mitigate these well-known issues,” Mike Jacob, vice president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, said in an emailed statement to the publication.

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The proposed plans consist of a 35,000-seat ballpark and a mixed-use development consisting of 3,000 homes, offices, restaurants, hotel rooms, an entertainment center and public parks.

A spokesman for Mayor Libby Schaaf said the group had made it clear they would sue even before the report had been finished. A’s President Dave Kaval said the lawsuit was another hurdle.

The team has insisted it will leave their current home at the Oakland Coliseum when the lease expires in a couple of years, and will pursue both the plan at the terminal or building a ballpark in the Las Vegas area if the waterfront park falls through.

“Howard Terminal or bust,” Kaval has said on several occasions.

[The Mercury News] — Gabriel Poblete

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Commercial Real EstateOaklandPolitics