Proposed SDSU Arena Under New Attack

Fearing noise and gridlock, homeowners near San Diego State University have filed suit against the school in the latest round of a continuing dispute over a proposed 12,000-seat, on-campus arena earmarked for rock shows and varsity basketball.

The $41-million project has been the focal point of controversy since last year, when another homeowners’ group filed suit, challenging the environmental impact report. That led to a new EIR, which was recently approved by the California State University system, of which SDSU is a member.

But now a second homeowners’ group, Friends of the College Area, says the supplemental EIR isn’t good enough, so last week, a new suit was filed in Superior Court. Homeowners are concerned about the noise and traffic that they envision once the arena opens up.

Gary DeBusschere, president of Friends of the College Area, said the situation “has polarized to hardball,” which he blamed on the university but particularly on school president Thomas B. Day.

University spokesman Rick Moore said the school has tried to negotiate with homeowners’ groups, only to have the talks end in failure. As a result, SDSU is reluctant to have a mediator settle differences, which City Councilwoman Judy McCarty has proposed.

Litigation “is exactly what I was hoping to avoid by suggesting mediation,” said McCarty, whose district includes the college area. “I’m very worried that we continue to try to settle in court something that should be settled in the community at large.”

But McCarty blamed the university for being the party that “rebuffed” all attempts at mediation.

“They considered it an attack on their sovereignty as a university,” she said. “My perception is, they feel they should make the decisions (about the center), and that it simply isn’t open for mediation.”

“She’s correct,” said university spokesman Rick Moore. “Mediation had not been suggested until the last few weeks, and by then the community made it clear they intended to sue.”

The challenge to the supplemental EIR is likely to add delay to an already much-delayed project. The arena was talked about as far back as 1971 and then approved in a student referendum in 1988. Students voted a fee increase to finance construction on the site of the old Aztec Bowl.

Moore called attempts to negotiate with Friends of the College Area “totally unsuccessful.” “The university is reluctant to get involved in much of anything else besides litigation. Who would be our partner in mediation? The city planning group out here is the College Area Community Council, but they’re not suing us,” Moore said.

“The first suit was brought by the Alvarado Homeowners Assn., but now it’s Friends of the College Area. We’re faced with having a dialogue with one group while another isn’t paying attention.”

Moore said the proposed building consists of two parts--a 76,000-square-feet intramural facility, to which homeowners don’t object, and the arena, slated for varsity basketball and rock concerts booked by Avalon Attractions.

“It became clear to us that to have the kind of arena comparable to others in our (Western Athletic Conference), we needed more than 10,000 seats,” Moore said. “So, Avalon Attractions (a Los Angeles-based rock promotion company) decided to kick in the money in exchange for a long-term contract,” calling for as many as 31 concerts a year.

Officials say Avalon’s contract is for $4 million and 15 years, giving the company exclusive domain over booking rock acts into what the school is calling the Student Activity Center.

Homeowners say noise and gridlock, mainly stemming from the rock concerts, are their worst fears.

“In the center of a desert, it’s a great scheme,” DeBusschere said in a recent interview. “But unfortunately, SDSU is a community of canyons. You can shut off traffic at one intersection (during an arena event) and close off a whole area.

“I guess the university’s position is, they want to play more hardball. The community feels a threshold has been exceeded. The university is now veering beyond its traditional role of education and, due to a lack of funding, is courting the entertainment business.

“What’s really happening here is not an issue over whether basketball comes back to campus. (The men’s varsity team currently plays at the 13,000-seat Sports Arena in the Midway District.) The community would like to see that. And it’s not an issue of telling the president what shows he can run on campus.

“It’s an issue over SDSU having its own planning process separate from that of the city. They’re trying to usurp the city’s planning process. By introducing this new element--the Avalon contract--they’ve gone beyond the special privilege that educational people have.

“They’re in the business of making education--not money.”

DeBusschere said studies commissioned by his group show that one out of every five tickets sold to an event at the arena will be purchased by a non-student. He claims that three out of every five events will be commercial in nature and not related to university functions.

“The sad thing is, the Associated Students are putting up the money, but less than 20 cents of every dollar will end up in students’ hands,” DeBusschere said.

SDSU spokesman Rick Moore said, “Their objections are understandable, especially with something so large coming into their area. They are very unsure what it’s all going to mean. Because your home is so important to your financial success and comfort and so forth, they are understandably quite nervous about the building.

“But the university, on the other hand, feels it can manage the facility in a responsible way that will not be a disaster for the neighborhood. However, there is a sincere difference of opinion on that point.”

DeBusschere said the judge overseeing the current action can decide “whether to throw out the entire EIR, or theoretically, he can decide they need to do a supplemental of the supplemental (EIR) . . . in which case we’re back to square one. We’ll just have to wait and see.”