CSUN Panel to Consider Stadium Plan Options

Still facing strong opposition from neighbors, a Cal State Northridge committee will hold a final meeting Thursday to consider options for building an 8,000-seat stadium, probably at the north end of the campus, or off-campus at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

The 12-member Athletic Facilities Siting Committee, composed of residents, faculty and administrators, will then forward its recommendation to the university, which will review the report, a CSUN spokesman said.

The committee voted 7 to 3 in November to consider construction of a 4- to 6-acre North Campus site, between Lindley and Zelzah avenues. That site was rejected last spring amid neighbors’ threats to sue to block it.

The same committee voted earlier to scale down the stadium plan from the originally proposed 15,000 seats to 8,500, in response to neighbors’ complaints they would be subjected to increased traffic, noise and other disturbances.

Neighbors also have expressed fears the university will lease the stadium for rock concerts and other events.

“This entire committee has been a smoke screen and a farce,” said Pat LoPresti, a member of the Lindley West Coalition, which opposes the on-campus site. “They already know it will end up on campus. This process will drag on. We won’t let it die.”

Committee Chairman David Honda agreed the process will be long but maintained that the outcome is still undetermined.

“I, for one, am still undecided about this; I don’t know how this will end up,” Honda said. “We have tried to compromise, but some of the [homeowners’ groups] now say they don’t want a football stadium at all. It’s become quite unpleasant.”

Thursday’s meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Grand Salon of the main student union. Parking is available in Lot C on Zelzah Avenue.