March 18--The process to approve an NFL stadium in Carson is "deeply flawed" and "an open invitation to litigation," AEG Vice Chairman Ted Fikre warned Carson Mayor Jim Dear in a letter sent earlier this week.
In the six-page letter obtained by The Times, Fikre called the proposed home for the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders "potentially exciting" but also "of great concern to us" because of the ballot initiative being used to move forward with the project. The tactic, also used by a rival stadium concept in Inglewood, bypasses lengthy environmental review.
"But it is entirely unacceptable for a massive development project such as this one ... to short cut the environmental and public review process entirely by use of the proposed initiative," the letter said.
Last month, Fikre expressed similar concerns to Dear in a phone call after the project's announcement. In a statement Wednesday, Fikre said his company -- which owns the Stubhub Center in Carson -- wants to make sure the $1.7-billion football stadium project is "thoroughly vetted" by the public before it wins local approval.
"As one of Carson's biggest investors and business stakeholders, AEG has an interest in advocating for a responsible approach to major developments in the community," Fikre said.
The safety of the proposed stadium in Inglewood has also been the topic of two reports by AEG, which owns the 27,000-seat StubHub Center and the L.A. Galaxy in Carson. The proposed stadium would sit two miles east of LAX.
The sports conglomerate earlier this month abandoned longstanding plans for a downtown NFL stadium after investing five years and more than $50 million in the effort.
Fikre's letter asked Dear to pursue independent review of the Carson stadium's impact and allow the public to vote on the ballot measure instead of the City Council approving it, as happened in Inglewood.
"Just because the Council has the right to bypass the people, it doesn't make it right to take that huge short cut," the letter said.
Carson City Attorney Sunny Soltani said city officials are reviewing the letter, but noted that earlier plans to turn the stadium site into a large shopping center received full environmental review several years ago, and that many of the mitigation measures for that project have been worked into the stadium plan.
"We will give due consideration to their concerns," she said. "We are not surprised that they would try to find ways to oppose a stadium in Carson as they have opposed the Inglewood project as well."
Mark Fabiani, point man on stadium issues for the Chargers, declined comment on AEG's letter.
nathan.fenno@latimes.com
tim.logan@latimes.com
UPDATE
12:58 p.m.: This post has been updated with a statement from AEG Vice Chairman Ted Fikre and reaction from Carson City Atty. Sunny Soltani.
This post was first published at 10:57 a.m.
