Activists Call Arena Bad for Environment

Several environmental groups announced their opposition to the plan for a new downtown sports arena Monday, charging that developers were not being required to do enough for people living near the Convention Center who will have to cope with increased traffic.

The Sierra Club complained that the arena will be a huge concrete mass, offering few benefits to nearby residents, who probably will not be able to afford ticket prices for Lakers and Kings games.

“In general, they are pouring cement and taking out trees,” Louis Quirarte, vice chairman of the Sierra Club’s Angeles chapter, said at a news conference on the steps of City Hall. “I’d like to see more trees, parks for kids.”

Other activists cited a federal EPA enforcement action in rural Colorado as evidence that the developers are callous when it comes to environmental concerns. In Colorado, a company owned by one of the developers, billionaire Philip Anschutz, has admitted illegally filling in nearly five acres of wetlands to improve the playability of an adjacent, private golf course used by Anschutz and his invited guests, the EPA said.

John H. Semcken III, vice president of the L.A. Arena Co., owned by Anschutz and real estate developer Edward Roski, said that the arena will lead to “a significant revitalization of the downtown area and be a tremendous benefit for all of Los Angeles.” He directed a request for comment about the EPA to the Anschutz Corp. But no one there could be reached for comment late in the afternoon.

Officials of Los Angeles’ Community Redevelopment Agency, which has approved an environmental impact report on the proposed arena, were mystified by the call for parks. “The issue of the developer providing parks hasn’t come up before,” said CRA planner Dennis Hance.

But David Riccitiello, a CRA project manager, pointed out that the developers are being required to save or replace trees and install landscaping around the arena.