San Diego stadium proposal trashed by Chargers

SAN DIEGO - The city and county's updated plans for a new $1.1-billion stadium were immediately trashed by the Chargers, making it look increasingly doubtful the long-running, contentious issue can be solved by City Hall's Sept. 11 deadline to have a deal in place to qualify for a January vote.

The city and county unveiled the updated plans Monday, a few hours after a local contingent made a presentation to the NFL's Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities in Chicago. The Chargers, who appear eager to move to Los Angeles, will update all owners today on their joint plan with the Oakland Raiders to build a stadium in Carson. St. Louis owner Stan Kroenke will give an update on his competing bid to build a stadium in Inglewood.

At a sun-drenched news conference overlooking aging Qualcomm Stadium, mayor Kevin Faulconer unveiled a financing plan, architectural renderings for a new stadium and a 6,000-page draft of an environmental impact report.

The proposal includes contributions of $362.5 million from the Chargers, a $200-million loan from the NFL, $187.5 million in personal seat licenses, $200 million from the city and $150 million from the county. The public contribution will be capped at 32 percent of the total project, and the team would be responsible for overruns, Faulconer said.

Chargers point man Mark Fabiani was quick to criticize City Hall.

"Never before in California history has a controversial, billion-dollar project relied on environmental review documents hastily prepared in three weeks," Fabiani said in a statement. "The Chargers have been clear from the start that the franchise will not be the City's guinea pig for this inevitably ill-fated legal experiment. Remember, these are the same politicians who told us, with disastrous results in court, that the convention center expansion could be financed by a vote of the hoteliers rather than a vote of the people."

The Chargers walked away from negotiations in June, saying they doubted the city could produce an EIR that will hold up in court.

The city and county have continued to work on the project.

"It will be up to the NFL and working with the Chargers here in the coming days to determine a path forward," Faulconer said. "We are ready, the negotiating table is open, and we'll see in the next couple of days."

The two sides have one month to agree for a special election to be planned.

Eric Grubman, the NFL's relocation point man, declined to comment on San Diego's presentation.

There's been a perception the Chargers are slow-walking San Diego's proposal to eventual failure in order to move on with a deal with the Raiders.

"We want to show the NFL, as much as show the Chargers, we're ready to move ahead with a new state-of-the art facility in San Diego," San Diego County commissioner Ron Roberts said.