Warriors Mission Bay Arena Rendering

The lawsuit aimed at derailing the Golden State Warriors’ plans to build a new arena in Mission Bay will go to trial this Friday with the transit activist group, SaveMuni, having officially joined as a plaintiff.

Filed by the Mission Bay Alliance in Superior Court last year, the suit argues that San Francisco city officials violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not properly considering alternative locations for the arena and failing to adequately address the project’s environmental impacts, such as traffic, air quality and noise. The suit also argues that the City broke its own development rules and limits under Proposition M.

According to a declaration filed as part of SaveMuni’s effort to join the Mission Bay Alliance lawsuit, it was the City’s plans to reroute Caltrain through Mission Bay, “add[ing] billions of tax-payer dollars to the cost of getting Caltrain into downtown San Francisco,” that compelled the group to join the suit.

We are pleased that Judge Wong has allowed SaveMuni to join in this critically important lawsuit,” said SaveMuni’s spokesperson. “An arena in Mission Bay would cause severe traffic and parking impacts as well as decades of delay in getting the Caltrain tradeins into downtown San Francisco and we will do everything in our power to stop this from happening.”

58 thoughts on “Opponents of Warriors Mission Bay Arena Add a Transit Ally”
  1. Muni has its hands full as it is. Back off and let this project bring million$ in taxe$ so those people working part time for the City can still get their full pension.

  2. The Board of Supervisors approved the release of $6 million to the MTA for the planning of transit around the new Arena. This is addition to the $60 million approved to buy new muni LRVs and the construction of switchbacks and other improvements in the area . As for the Caltrain proposal, it was Mayor Lee’s wish for the change but it is not official.

    These people are just reaching for straws to survive and in the end will lose their lawsuits.

    1. Agreed. They are completely without any basis or logic. This frivolous lawsuit, I hope, will fail soon.

    2. This project includes at least 2 extra new LRVs to service the stadium and the SFMTA has done a lot of work to design the light rail stop to move people when games get out, and to coordinate with the Giants, UCSF, and neighbors to prevent grid lock. This is a good project and will bring a lot of revenue to the city. Unfortunately my friends at SaveMuni disagree, but I think it is mainly along population growth concerns, not Caltrain. I doubt the mayor’s Caltrian subway realignment will happen, it was just an idea to look at.

    3. Exactly. How can you use a *hypothetical* proposal to re-route Caltrain as a means to propose the arena? This is ridiculous.

      The only thing SaveMuni should be working towards is increasing Muni funding and getting more lines built (Central Subway extension, and Geary undergrounding, I’m looking at you!)

    4. That answer doesn’t speak to the millions it will cost for CalTrain to [reach] the Transbay Terminal.

      And why doesn’t Oakland fight to keep its jewel in that fabulous city. The streets in soma and the Mission are gridlocked as it is on a Giants day game, keeping up middle class wage earners from both work and Family.

      Thirdly, if the team didn’t scout other locations, why do they choose the bay and its views robbing the space from other San francisco leisure and recreational areas with a completely closed in building – a sport that is not played outside like Baseball but that could be placed in a very transit rich area. Think about the Bill Graham site being demolished (the WWDC that just occurred there had to bring in extra ventilation systems just to host a conference-it’s so outdated). That would be the logical solution. Its on every BART, Muni and Metro lines.

      We are dealing with an MTA that just purchased and put into service 700 long modern articulated buses to service the City for the next 15 years and they didn’t determine that the buses cannot make it up most of the City’s steep hills , rendering them useless for things like OuterLands on the haight lines, or the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, and our Citizens taxpayers paid for this and will have to put up with it for another 15 years. So I wouldn’t rely on relief solutions from the MTA. Just Sayin.

      Keep the Bayfront from [being] closed property privately owned by billionaires and keep it for all of San Franciscans enjoyment, and turn your efforts to keeping the Warriors in Oakland a great city that is losing another franchise to the City’s and money laid on the Planning common tables, greed

  3. SaveMuni … never heard of these people. Seems like this would be a great project for Muni, with more people riding the T to games. Are they trying to save muni by making sure that no-one rides? What does CalTrain have to do with saving Muni?

    1. Game traffic doesn’t really bring significant revenue to transit agencies. It might even be a loss over the more balanced commute traffic because of the unidirectionality of game traffic (think Muni cars unloading in front of arena and returning empty) and the sudden surge loads before and after games. So you have to staff a lot of extra operators to handle the surge, then they sit on their hands during the game until the post-game surge occurs.

  4. I always understood SaveMuni’s primary goal to be making MUNI more efficient. I’m not really following its interest in trying to derail this project.

  5. Is this about half a mile from the baseball stadium? Looks like a good way to utilize the same transportation corridors..

  6. You can see a rendering of Salesforce Tower in the thumbnail photo. It’s almost unbelievable how phallic the design of that building is from certain angles. I can’t believe the city went with that design over the SOM one. “Should we have a tower more iconic than One World Trade Center or something that magazines will need to censor?”

    1. Lol…Grow up. Going by your logic (which is apparently “tall and slender = penis!”), every major city on earth is overflowing with massive wangs.

      1. It has nothing to do with being tall and slender. Transamerica pyramid is tall and slender and is probably one of the world’s most charismatic buildings.

        Buildings like Salesforce tower and Agbar Tower in Barcelona made the unfortunate oblivious architectural decision to model itself after a dildo. But luckily for Barcelona, Agbar tower isn’t the tallest tower in their city.

        Wait for SF and Salesforce tower to be the biggest joke in the country once it’s completed.

        1. What a stupid, juvenile comment: Have you not see the St. Mary Axe building in London?

          Is that a joke? Is London a joke due to that building?

          1. having a building the world refers to as the Gherkin goes a long way as a joke! ( and that is a polite term)

          2. It doesn’t matter whether it’s stupid/juvenile. It’s the tallest tower in the city and most people on this planet are immature. Believe me, that humiliating shape of the tower will stick with the city.

          3. why do you care about the opinions of people that you yourself describe as immature? unless you share their immature opinions.

            sometimes a building is just a building.

          4. Snarking aside, I too just wish they had gone with the magnificent SOM design but sold out to the “highest” which was then drastically reduced.

          5. Just turn Mission Creek into a giant yoni to complete the matched set. Create sumptuous ridges along the banks. There’s already a focal point at the Berry Street end. I’m sure a few local landscape architects would salivate at that opportunity.

          6. When someone refers to a building as “phallic” or “dildo” you have to assume what their brain is focusing on.

            If it can focus at all. But then again, 13 year old boys think like that.

  7. “delay in getting the Caltrain tradeins into downtown San Francisco”

    unless CT is shopping on RAILMAX for their cars these days, I think they meant “Caltrain trains into…”

  8. Everything is so political in this city. No wonder real estate is so expensive here. Good grief.

  9. Muni loses money on every giants game. It’s part of the city subsidy for that privately financed stadium. The N and T are completely jacked up every giants game, with effects well outside of SOMA. I wonder how the people in Chinatown feel, finally getting their decades promised central subway, and, by the way it’ll be unusable 200 days a year.

  10. SaveMUNI basically consists of anti-development so-called “activists”. On their “founders list” it appears as though about half of them don’t even live in San Francisco.

    (Litmus Test: If anti-development attorney Sue Hestor is one of the “founders” than you can bet the organization is pretty lame.)

  11. Check out their website. Lots of TH dwellers as “founders”…hmmmmm? Love this founding member: Ed Moose: Retired North Beach Restaurateur. Lived in North Beach. If I recall half correct, Ed passed at LEAST five years ago. This website was created 3/6/15 and the sham website was last updated 2/18/15. Just pimping Ed’s name? BTW, MUNI (read the Union) loves the new stadium; more work, more jobs, more dues paying members.

    1. Mr. Moose died in Aug 2010, the group was founded in April 2010; the list is of founding members – not current ones – so I don’t see why you describe it as a “sham”.

      More curious, perhaps, is the large number of members listed in places not normally associated with having an interest in Muni (Redwood City, Sacramento, France…France?) but hey, if San Francisco is truly a World Class City – as we are endlessly told – then I guess we should expect the world will be interested in what goes on there.

  12. “the suit argues that San Francisco city officials violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not properly considering alternative locations for the arena”

    Failed to consider alternatives like, I dunno, that other location that these same flunkies forced the Warriors to abandon a few years back. Got it.

  13. I was getting this group mixed up with Rescue Muni, which is older and more established (presumably why SaveMuni cribbed their name)

    1. thanks, my thought too, and I was confused by the discussion of Sue Hestor, Telegraph Hill Dwellers and the like. Rescue Muni is a serious organization that has pressed for Muni reforms and efficiencies for years, and aligned with SPUR on that Muni reform we voted in some years ago that created the MTA. That obviously didn’t completely “Rescue Muni”, but it helped.

  14. Good. The sooner these frivolous lawsuits can be addressed the better. Can’t wait for the groundbreaking on this LONG overdue arena for SF. Welcome back Warriors!

  15. I don’t know how these lawsuits will turn out but I expect this will ultimately be decided at the ballot box by the voters. As it should be given this is going to have a negative impact on the transportation infrastructure which is already inadequate.

    1. Right Dave. So you and your liberal progressives can wate more tax payer money with a special vote. Once the lawsuits are settled, the shovels will be in the ground and you can’t do anything about it.

      1. By SF standards I am hardly liberal. I’m an evil landlord.

        But I am a realist as to the decaying SF infrastructure – especially transportation. And the fact nothing is being done – well maybe in 15, 20 years. That is not good enough. An arena in Mission Bay or any other SF location cannot be sustained IMO and beyond that will accelerate the transportation infrastructure crisis.

        If SF voters are OK with that – fine. I simply don’t want it imposed on us by the City PTB and the crony capitalists.

        1. The main argument from the Mission Bay Alliance and now Save Muni is the EOIR does not address the Muni issues. Once the judge throws out their lawsuit and upholds the EOIR the construction of the Arena will move forward. No vote needed as this is a private development.

        2. Can you make a logical argument as to how this is WORSE for transit infrastructure? This stadium is literally paying for transit upgrades and it will push more people to use the t-line, driving more revenue for the service.

          1. The Warriors own EIR forecasts that their arena will make the traffic WORSE during the PM commute. The planned $50-60 million in taxpayer funded transit upgrades are so inadequate that SF is planning to spend another ~$10 million/year on traffic control just to manage the extra traffic for the Warriors Arena. All this WORSE traffic plus initial and annual taxpayer subsidies are baked into the plan and the deal approved by SF gov, which is public record, BTW.

    2. If its at the ballot box, more than 70% of sf citizens are in favor of it. An arena is desperately needed in SF for concerts and events, and we all love the warriors

      1. Are you talking about the election who’s voter turnout was 30% and below?

        Where is the Planning Department, the head of Muni, the Oakland Mayor trying to keep a franchise, the leaders of the Bay Trail, all so that not only a venue can be built waterside but accompanying revenue producing buildings associated with the arena can be built. There is a reason why the building lessen in height near the water and that is so there are protected views of our natural beauty from various vantage points across this great and lovely City and not a row of tall incredibly rich peoples dwellings and workplaces.

  16. Save Muni does not represent the majority of transit advocates. they were opposed to the Central Subway, and since they lost that they have nothing to do so there you go. SFTRU, others are NOT involved. Get it right.

  17. Hopefully no one has a sick child who needs to make it to the premiere children’s hospital during a game … And as far as SF goes there is literally no good transit there and no easy improvements. Also note that mayor is pushing to demolish 280 connector.

    1. More fear mongering and hysteria??

      So other streets and areas are not filled with traffic when an ambulance comes thru?

      1. Oh I see your logic: traffic is so bad it can’t possibly get worse!

        And yes SF already has dismal ER response times.

        So it just can’t get any worse right? Why bother to try to make life better?

      1. Children’s Emergency, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital; Hours: 24 hours a day, every day.
        Video of “An Emergency Department Just for Kids” at namelink. Good to know if you have children.

  18. As anyone who has tried to get on the Bay Bridge in the last year at rush hour knows this city is pushed the brink already with traffic woes. Arguing that this project won’t make it worse are far fetched. Once again the tone of folks who seems to support this project seems to be driving from PR hacks and less from folks that care about the future of a livable SF.

  19. Adding 2 light rail vehicles and reconfiguring one T-line station will not address the stadium transit demand. Having apathetic meter maids directing cars and pedestrians at 2 or 3 intersections near the new arena will not prevent intersection gridlock.

    If the City actually did its job with fixing transportation then the clowns suing them would not have a case. But the City does not do its job. So here we are.

    If the Mayor wanted to make traffic in SOMA better instead of worse he would stick to the current Caltrain plan and look at connecting the I-280 Sixth Street off-ramp directly to the I-80 Fifth street on ramp.

  20. Save Muni should be focused on the T-Line and its connectivity so it does not “dead-end” out near Schlage, they should push instead for linkage, around cargo way, to the BVHP area, or up oakdale, to Bayshore… and Alemany perhaps as a new route. The problem is the links/loops and solutions, nobody is looking seriously at to increase flow and speeds of the trains and systems.

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