Posted on 02/26/2007 10:24:26 AM PST by SmithL
A big hurdle has popped up in the path of the 49ers' plans to move down to Santa Clara -- a portion of the land where the team hopes to build its $800 million stadium turns out to be owned by the city of San Francisco.
The revelation raises the possibility that officials in San Francisco, who fumed when the Niners abruptly announced their intention in November to move to the South Bay, could have some unexpected muscle to flex in dealing with team owner John York.
San Francisco's land is just 80 feet wide, but it runs across the entire 20-acre parcel east of Highway 101 where the 49ers want to build, and not far from where the stadium's southern end zone would be located.
The 4-acre ribbon of territory, on the site's southern edge just opposite the Great America amusement park, is where a pipeline carrying water from the Sierra to 2.4 million Bay Area customers is buried. The pipe, part of the Hetch Hetchy system, is owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
The significance of the pipeline went largely unnoticed until The Chronicle started asking questions at San Francisco City Hall, where officials then pulled up maps showing the pipe's pathway across the stadium site.
The land is now used for parking for Great America, which hopes to partner with the 49ers to build the stadium. The amusement park's owners had a five-year lease for the PUC land but allowed it to expire in 2004. Now they have a month-to-month deal, meaning San Francisco could terminate the agreement at any time.
Great America pays $100,000 a year for the property, and any long-term lease renewal could require approval from San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. Given the 49ers' interest in the site, the price tag could...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Uh-Oh!
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Can't the City of Santa Clara claim Eminent Domain on the parcel owned by the City of San Fransisco and force them to sell?
Wouldn't that be interesting?
Unless the laws have been changed radically and wholesale recently, eminent domain, by definition, can be invoked only by "public entities", and only against "private property interests".
Why would those of us who live in Silicon Valley want the 49ers playing here? Traffic is bad enough...
Is it a easement or does Frisco owe the strip? It's only a problem if they plan to build the stadium over it. A parking lot is a different matter as long as the city can dig up the water line to replace or repair it...
Did you see this from last month?
I don't know if SF can actually block the deal, but they'll undoubtedly make it a lot more difficult and a lot more expensive.
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