Saturday, December 13, 2008

Reject The Stadium Plan

(work in progress)

We strongly urge the city council to reject the current A's Ballpark Village plan. Please vote for "No Project Alternative- Existing Entitlement": The No Project Existing Entitlement alternative would develop the site based on the 2003 Pacific Commons entitlements. It would include the development of approximately 4.7 million square feet of research and development use.

The current Ballpark Village plan does not properly address many important concerns on traffic impact, crime and financial consequences. Our local residents don't want to be near the stadium. Our local retailers don't want to be near them either. The stadium project is facing strong opposition from local communities. This improperly conceived plan could bring Fremont into deep financial trouble and irreversible damage.

We hear overwhelming concerns from a lot of local residents. Here are some quotes:

Concerns About Financial Consequences

The A’s claim the entire development will come at no cost from the city of Fremont. I don’t understand how they can make such an irresponsible promise as they also financially stranded in the current economic downturn. The A's does not have strong financial power (like the Yankees). They can not even keep their good players. They even change the plan to delay the village and build the stadium first (at what cost). Besides, who will pay the large bill on the infrastructure, road upgrade, maintenance, extra police, etc?

The only reason they claim "no cost to the city of Fremont" is because they thought they can avoid the city referrendum by not using city money. This is a lie. And we have found a way to demand city wide referrendum if the Councile still choose to approve such an ill-planned project. And recall all Council Members who support the plan, because you choose to side with the big business interest group instead of the best interest of Fremont residents.

Once the project starts, it will be point of no return, whether you like it or not. Fremont could be dragged down into deep financial trouble. The A's proposal looks appealing, but city of Fremont does not have the resource and infrasture to support a stadium. It's better to leave it to big cities. We don't want to see our tax money drain down to help the A's.

Concerns About Crime and Safety

The whole idea of A's stadium in a small city like Fremont is a nightmare. In 2007 (according to FBI Crime Reports), over 30,000 crimes were committed in Oakland versus less than 6,000 in Fremont. Once this stadium is built, the entire Fremont is going to suffer and it will be irreversible.

In the last 90 days or so, within a 1-mile radius of Oakland stadium, 404 crimes were committed.

Allowing a stadium built in Fremont is a very bad idea since it is going to bring a huge crowd that is going to potentially increase violent crimes such as murders, robberies, theft, assaults near your homes where your children come out and play every day.

Look at Oakland...Ask yourself these questions: Would you want your family to live in an Oakland like neighborhood? Would you want to send your children to a public school in Oakland? If the answer is no to any of these questions, then act Now!

Concerns About Traffic Impact

The south Fremont sections of the current I-680 and I-880 are already two of the biggest bottlenecks in the Bay Area. The two freeways are always bumper to bumper during rush hours. Please ask the city officials to solve the current traffic congestion first before even thinking about a stadium there.

Their plan fails to address how to accommodate the extra 10,000+ cars jamming into the already very congested freeways during game days (at least 81 days per year!). This will bring the 880/680/237 into a complete stop. The overflow from the freeways will turn our local road into gridlocks.

Our commute may be extended by hours because of this traffic! The impacts are not only limited to south Fremont and will also affect all daily commuters from Newark, Union City, Hayward, Pleasanton and Milpitas.

Conclusion

We cannot approve this very risky project without solving these issues properly. This ill-conceived plan could bring Fremont into deep financial trouble and irreversible damage.

We strongly urge the city council to reject the current plan. Otherwise, please tell the citizens of Fremont why we really need a stadium in our city.

- Local Fremont Residents

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