SDSU Arena Is OKd; Neighbors Vow Fight

The $41-million Student Activities Center, awaiting construction on the campus of San Diego State University, was unanimously approved Wednesday by the board of the California State University System.

But, as soon as the decision was reached, an activist organization representing campus-area homeowners said the board’s vote will be challenged in the courts.

“This is hardball. It’s polarized to hardball,” said Gary DeBusschere, president of the Friends of the College Area. He said City Councilwoman Judy McCarty “suggested mediation, which they--the university--rejected. I guess their assumption is, they’re ready for more hardball.”

SDSU President Thomas B. Day said Wednesday he was delighted with the 24-member board’s decision, reached at its meeting in Long Beach.

“This is a great day for San Diego and San Diego State University,” Day said. “The proposed Student Activities Center will bring wonderful opportunities to SDSU students and our neighbors.”

But many of the school’s neighbors are anything but thrilled.

The 12,000-seat activities center, designed primarily for intramural sports, varsity basketball and concerts, was approved by SDSU students in 1988. Students voted in a $47-per-semester fee increase to finance construction.

But, almost since it was first proposed, the idea of the arena--earmarked for construction on the site of the old Aztec Bowl--has been criticized by neighboring homeowners, who fear a devastating increase in noise, traffic, parking and vandalism.

Under the auspices of the Alvarado Homeowners Assn., neighbors sued once--and won--in Superior Court. A judge ruled the Environmental Impact Report inadequate and ordered the university to pay the homeowners’ legal fees of slightly more than $31,000.

A supplemental Environmental Impact Report has since been filed, consisting of more than 1,000 pages. That report was, in essence, approved by trustees at the meeting in Long Beach on Wednesday.

DeBusschere said his group has 30 days in which to file a new court action. He expects the matter to be “locked up in litigation” for some time.

Councilwoman McCarty, whose district includes SDSU, said Wednesday she was disappointed and frustrated with the inability of the two sides to work out their differences. McCarty argued unsuccessfully for a delay at a trustees’ committee meeting Tuesday, hoping a mediator could settle the stalemate.

“The community supports the activities center--they know it’s needed--but what concerns them is the impact on the community,” McCarty said. “The community feels the university could have done a whole lot more to mitigate the impact.

“For one, they’re concerned about the size of the structure. It was originally going to be 10,000 seats. Now, it’s up to 12,000. With the additional seating, it’s become more of an entertainment center rather than a student center, and that’s the nature of the opposition.

“Of course, the final decision-maker on all this is the university president (Day), and the community feels he just isn’t sensitive to their concerns.”

DeBusschere echoed that feeling.

“This is a big, major PR problem for them,” he said of the school’s administration.

Other sources within the opposition, who asked not to be quoted by name, said they believe Day’s personal resistance to community efforts has escalated the acrimony. Day was unavailable for further comment Wednesday.

DeBusschere said the first salvo fired against the community was the “university going against its word” and increasing the proposed seating capacity. He said SDSU then signed a 15-year contract with a Los Angeles-based promotion company, Avalon Attractions, which paid SDSU a $4-million cash down payment. (Further details of the deal have been kept confidential.)

“That allows them to run 31 events a year,” DeBusschere said. “It allows them to run for-profit events on the campus of an educational institution. In the center of a desert, it’s a great scheme, but unfortunately, SDSU is a community of canyons and residential neighborhoods full of families.

“You can shut off traffic at one intersection related to these concerts and close off a whole area.”

But university athletic director Fred Miller, a longtime advocate of the project, was ecstatic with the board’s approval Wednesday.

“I’ve been using the same language since Day One on this project,” Miller said in a statement. “Every major university must have a center to house major events. I’m delighted.”