Residents of the Railyards neighborhood of Sacramento successfully stopped the city from expanding a special taxing district and allocating $92 million toward stadium infrastructure; however, their protests and lawsuit were not enough to halt stadium construction entirely.
According to CBS News, the residents submitted letters opposing the financing agreement to the city council in June. California state law dictates that if half the residents of a district protest a special tax creation, then that special tax must be set aside for at least a year. But residents of the Railyards allege that is not what happened in this situation. They accuse Sacramento’s city council of not counting the letters, but moving forward anyway.
Residents of the Railyards neighborhood of Sacramento successfully stopped the city from expanding a special taxing district and allocating $92 million toward stadium infrastructure; however, their protests and lawsuit were not enough to halt stadium construction entirely.
According to CBS News, the residents submitted letters opposing the financing agreement to the city council in June. California state law dictates that if half the residents of a district protest a special tax creation, then that special tax must be set aside for at least a year. But residents of the Railyards allege that is not what happened in this situation. They accuse Sacramento’s city council of not counting the letters, but moving forward anyway.
As a result, residents have announced a lawsuit against the city, forcing it to stop the special tax district and count the letters.
Despite the lawsuit, Sacramento mayor Kevin McCarty told CBS News that the city and Republic FC still plan to move forward with the stadium, but they will use other means of financing the project.
"We are building alternative pathways – which will not impact the General Fund to support the project," McCarty said in a statement after the lawsuit was announced. "City council has already unanimously approved the railyards infrastructure, and developers are free to move forward with construction."
Under the original plan, stadium developers would have paid the $92 million up front to build public infrastructure, pedestrian bike lanes and traffic lights surrounding the stadium. The special taxing district would have been used to reimburse the developers. The new plan has not been specified by the city council or the developers, but construction is expected to start soon.
Todd Dunivant, president and general manager of Republic FC said, “Now that the city has clarified the path forward, we're advancing our plans to build a transformational stadium and neighborhood that Sacramento needs and wants. Our work on the stadium has never stopped and we look forward to beginning construction very soon.”
