[ltsmotorsport]

Court dismisses environmental challenge to new Sacramento Kings arena

An appellate court Wednesday dismissed a citizens’ lawsuit challenging the new Sacramento Kings arena on environmental grounds, removing one of the last remaining legal obstacles to the $477 million project.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal rejected the lawsuit filed by a group of citizens led by a retired Caltrans director, Adriana Saltonstall. The lawsuit said the new arena, which broke ground at Downtown Plaza last October, would bring enormous traffic and air-pollution problems and even lead to post-game riots by drunken fans.

The appellate court affirmed an earlier decision, by Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley, to dismiss the suit, which was filed under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.

“It’s certainly helpful to have this out of the way,” said Assistant City Manager John Dangberg. “CEQA challenges...are very common in California and can result in substantial delays to projects and substantial costs to projects.”

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/cit...e10622606.html