Dodgers gondola project moves forward with vote from Metro

Dodger Stadium gondola project moves forward

The 1.2-mile aerial gondola would connect Union Station with Dodger Stadium.

LOS ANGELES - Following two hours of public comment, the Metro Board of Directors Thursday approved the environmental impact report for a hotly debated gondola project that would provide access to Dodger Stadium.

In an 11-0 vote, the Board of Directors certified the EIR, which represents a significant step toward fruition of the gondola, officially known as the Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit Project. L.A. County Supervisor and Director Janice Hahn abstained from the vote.

Additionally, the board adopted a motion introduced by L.A. County Supervisor and Director Hilda Solis, establishing an inclusive community benefits agreement intended to address the concerns of impacted communities prior to any construction.

"For the project to win my vote, it needs transparency guarantees and addresses community priorities and concerns," Solis said prior to the vote.

She added, "I'm happy for Union Station property to be leveraged to address public traffic concerns, but it should not be used to enrich private interests. What this provision does is ensure that the leveraging of public resources is used to address the region's most pressing public need -- and that is affordable housing."

The project will require further consideration from the city of Los Angeles, Caltrans, the California State Department of Parks and Recreation, and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health before it comes back the transit agency at a future date for construction approval.

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"Your motion mandates a robust plan to mitigate the project impacts while pushing for significant resources for the most at-risk young people in the surrounding community with care-based solutions that reduce recidivism," Los Angeles Mayor and Board Chair Karen Bass said, who also co-authored Solis' motion.

Several directors applauded Solis' motion, which they said ensured safeguards to the community.

According to Solis, the agreement is enforceable and will place about 30 conditions on the project, and if those are not met, Metro will be able to revoke the use of Metro-owned property and permission.

Highlights of the agreement include calls for an ongoing Chinatown revitalization revolving loan fund to offer low- and no-interest loans, and forgivable loans to local small businesses, entrepreneurs and street vendors. It also establishes requirements for tree replacement parking, local job creation, workforce development, sustainable and affordable housing.

In 2018, Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt proposed the $300 million private project, which would establish a 1.2-mile aerial gondola, connecting Union Station with Dodger Stadium.

Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies, a partnership formed by McCourt, funded EIR and preliminary design process. Last year, McCourt Global gifted the project to a new entity, known as Zero Emission Technologies. ZET would be responsible for building, financing and operating the gondola. .

The project would include a station at the southernmost entrance of Los Angeles State Historic Park, as well as pedestrian and landscape improvements. The project would run above Chinatown, Mission Junction, Elysian Park and Solano Canyon.

Metro formally concluded the proposal process and began exclusive negotiations with ART, and stepped up to be the lead agency overseeing California Environmental Quality Act requirements.

The transit agency is required by the Public Utilities Code to review for approval all plans proposed for the design, construction, and implementation of public mass transit projects, regardless of whether Metro is the project sponsor.

The environmental impact report noted major construction noise and vibration would occur. Some cables and cabins would pass over private properties, sparking concerns over privacy. Traffic lanes would be closed during parts of the construction phase as well, which would require a detailed plan outlining street closures, lights and detours.

Metro has outlined possible mitigation efforts to address these issues, but acknowledged that impacts related to construction would remain "significant and unavoidable."

The proposal has garnered significant pushback from some community members in neighborhoods surrounding the stadium, who contend it overlooks critical concerns regarding potential environmental and economic impacts. Some residents and other stakeholders formed the Stop the Gondola Coalition in opposition of the project.

"Today, the Metro board has failed our communities and effectively decided a billionaire's private tourist attraction is more important than investing in what our communities truly need -- real public transportation and protected green space," Phyllis Ling, founder of Stop the Gondola Coalition, said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon.

Ling criticized the "last-minute" conditions proposed by Metro officials that do "nothing" to fix the EIR. She said that stakeholders will remain steadfast in their commitment to protect their communities.

"Our fight will go next to the L.A. City Council and the California Sate Parks and Recreation Commission, which we expect will show more responsibility than Metro for our communities and our state park," Ling added.

Sarah Reyes, chief communications officer for The California Endowment, echoed Ling's reaction.

Reyes added, "With more than 90 separate unaddressed issues that we, along with hundreds of community members, have highlighted in public comments and letters, the gondola project continues to pose a significant burden for the surrounding community in increased traffic, pollution, noise, trash and health burdens."

Members of the coalition contend McCourt -- who owns 50% of the parking lots at Dodger Stadium -- has plans to use the lots for residential and retail use. It was reported in 2023 that McCourt submitted plans with the city of L.A. for apartments along Stadium Way.

On top of concerns about the environment, quality of life and gentrification, opponents say there is no guarantee taxpayers won't be stuck with the bill for the project, which they say is closer to $500 million for construction, and an annual $8 million to $10 million for maintenance and operations.

Supporters say the project could remove as many as 3,000 cars from neighborhood streets and the Harbor (110) Freeway before and after Dodgers games, leading to a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

"Frank McCourt has a long history of being solutions-oriented. He lived the Dodger traffic and understands the congestion and he believes that aerial transit is a proven technology that's efficient and provides clean transportation," LA ART spokeswoman Jennifer Rivera told the Los Angeles Times in 2022. "The route will not displace any residents and it runs mostly along public property and city streets."

Metro is providing no money for the project and it is supposed to be privately funded.

ZET board representatives Suja Lowenthal and David Kim, a former Long Beach City Council member and the former head of CalSTA, respectively, said the project will be "invaluable" to the city and region for years and decades to come. They added, "We will do our best to meet this board's expectations as the project moves forward."

Two years ago, a report published by the UCLA Mobility Lab found the gondola would "reduce traffic on major roads around Dodger Stadium on the night of a sold-out game, but the impact would likely be very limited," removing about 608 cars.

City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the First District, which encompasses Chinatown and the area where the gondola would be set up, has come out against the project.

"I'm here to ask you to stand with community members and reject an unsolicited project that will require the time and resources of multiple agencies, not to mention public land and airspace in order to stand up for a for-profit, untested gondola that will not solve the problems that our community faces," Hernandez told the directors.

She introduced a motion calling to suspend further actions by the city related to the gondola until a traffic study is conducted.

Her motion would instruct city departments to examine policies and procedures at other stadiums and high-capacity venues throughout the region, such as the Rose Bowl, Hollywood Bowl, SoFi Stadium, BMO Stadium and the Coliseum.

Following the vote, the Los Angeles Parks Alliance announced its intentions to file a lawsuit under CEQA and will ask the court to throw out the gondola is "fatally flawed" final EIR.

According to the organization, the lawsuit will focus on McCourt's plans for the current Dodger Stadium parking lots. The alliance argues the EIR does not study the impacts, which undercuts the primary claimed benefit of reduction in traffic and greenhouse gases.

The lawsuit also criticizes the EIR for failing to recognize that this use of the land and airspace of Los Angeles State Historic Park, which they say is illegal.

"This project clearly violates CEQA, but more importantly is being forced on a neighborhood that has had to endure more than its share of projects that don*t benefit the community," John Given, legal counsel to LAPA said in a statement. "I believe the courts will recognize what our elected representatives on Metro's board have not, and correct this egregious abuse of discretion."