Environmental Groups Share Concerns Over SoccerCity, Impressed With SDSU West

image
Author: Jeff Powers
Published: 12 Oct, 2018
Updated: 21 Nov, 2022
3 min read

San Diego, CALIF.- Adjacent to the San Diego River in Mission Valley, several environmental groups and City Council President Pro Tem Barbara Bry praised SDSU West Measure G for its efforts to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act, better known as CEQA.

The same group criticized SoccerCity Measure E for their lack of environmental review.

San Diego River

Endangered Habitats League San Diego

For Michael Beck, the Director of the Endangered Habitats League San Diego, the fact that SoccerCity has not begun any CEQA work on its project makes it a non starter. Beck said, "developers use the CEQA process as the interface for the public to engage on the analysis of the project and to make improvements to the project and to ensure that it meets environmental and community objectives, that doesn't exist for SoccerCity, that is absolutely disqualifying, right there, you don't have to go beyond that."

Beck continued, "It's No, No, No we are not going to support a project that is going to be slammed into one of the most significant sites in the City of San Diego. It's a fatal flaw for the project."

San Diego River

San Diego Audubon Society

Lisa Heinz with the San Diego Audubon Society was equally as critical of the SoccerCity Measure E project, Heinz said, "San Diego Audubon works to protect all the natural habitats throughout San Diego County. It's crucial that we include protection of those natural habitats that we have so much of here in San Diego. Development plans must include firm and binding commitments to addressing the environmental impacts of those plans, Measure E as it stands does not include firm and binding commitments to that environmental protection. San Diego Audubon opposes Measure E because of that."

IVP Donate

Despite appearing at the news conference, the Audubon Society and Endangered Habitats League have not yet publicly taken a stance of support for Measure G, the Sierra Club has pledged its public support for Measure G.

Council President Pro Tem Supports SDSU West

City Council President Pro Tem Barbara Bry also spoke at the event, although she was more effusive in praise for SDSU West than critical of SoccerCity.

Bry said of the CEQA efforts made by SDSU West, "the university is committed to preserving half of their project plans to green and open space. Measure G expands the university through an open and transparent process and SDSU is dedicated to protecting sensitive habitats through the creation of a permanent public riverpark. That's why I am voting Yes on Measure G and No on Measure E in November."

Councilman Scott Sherman Supports SoccerCity

Just as City Council President Pro Tem Barbara Bry has been the most outspoken supporter of SDSU West, City Councilman Scott Sherman has been the most outspoken supporter of SoccerCity.

Appearing on KUSI this week, Sherman said, "Yes on E because it's a better deal for the city as a whole. Measure G is strictly tailored to benefit a few, whereas Measure E will bring in significant tax revenues, we're looking at a riverpark, we're looking at bringing MLS soccer, $110 million sale price, all that is going to be done at no taxpayer expense. And Measure E provides for San Diego State development on that site including a new stadium for them to use."

Voters will decide the fate of the two measures November 6th.

Latest articles

Marijuana plant.
Why the War on Cannabis Refuses to Die: How Boomers and the Yippies Made Weed Political
For much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American physicians freely prescribed cannabis to treat a wide range of ailments. But by the mid-twentieth century, federal officials were laying the groundwork for a sweeping criminal crackdown. Cannabis would ultimately be classified as a Schedule I substance, placed alongside heroin and LSD, and transformed into a political weapon that shaped American policy for the next six decades....
30 Jun, 2025
-
2 min read
Donald Trump standing behind presidential podium and in front of two American flags.
Has Trump Made His Case for the Nobel Peace Prize?
A news item in recent days that was overshadowed in the media by SCOTUS and the One Big Beautiful Budget Bill was a US-brokered peace agreement that was signed between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – which if it holds will end a conflict between the two countries that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of people....
30 Jun, 2025
-
7 min read
Picture of skyscraper in New York behind a bridge.
Knives Come Out Against Reform at NYC CRC Hearing as Independents Rise
Last week in Staten Island, the NYC Charter Revision Commission held its next-to-last public hearing. As Commissioner Diane Savino commented, addressing NYC's closed primary system “is the single biggest issue we’ve heard this year.”...
30 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read