Mayor says City focused on Niners won't address parcel land

By Tony the Tiger and Greg Grant

February 27, 2007
 
 



SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom addressed the media regarding the newest revaluation that the City of San Francisco owns a parcel land where the 49ers are proposing to build a new stadium on the proposed site in Santa Clara.

Newsom was asked several times to address the parcel land owned by the city if that would be a sticking point in the $800 million Santa Clara new stadium location.. The City land is just 80 feet wide and runs the entire 20 acre parcel east of Highway 101 near Great America Park.

The south end zone sits close to the city owned parcel which is pipeline that runs water from the Sierra to 2.4 million Bay Area customers, which is the part of the Hetchy-Hetchy pipeline which operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

When asked about the 20 acre parcel that could be a bargaining chip for the City the Mayor during another announcement the renaming of a building in San Francisco's Japantown, after returning from Osaka, the Mayor would not say he would use the parcel land as a trump card to stop a new stadium development by the Niners, "Were focused on the building of the stadium at Candlestick point or a stadium on Hunters Point that's our focus," said Newsom.

The Niners who want to build and stay in Santa Clara where their headquarters are located and Newsom said the City was focused on keeping the Niners in San Francisco, "the 49ers have a lot of work to do down in Santa Clara and that work has been made potentially more challenging but the reality is you got a proposal which we've given them they reject it and were in the process of putting together a second proposal that we think addresses all their concerns," said Newsom.

The Niners have stated that not only Candlestick Park is not viable but the Niners were not interested in building a new park in Hunters Point or Candlestick Point and that Santa Clara offers so much more including easy access from the 49ers offices to the park plus with Great America next door, a lot more parking and less flooding which Candlestick gets now.

The Mayor then was asked if the parcel land could be used as a trump card in halting the Niners plans in building a new stadium, "There's a lot of questions that continue to remain outstanding as it relates to any prospect if the 49ers would leave I'll let them deal with that that's their concern, our concern is keeping the 49ers commitment to the community and keeping the 49ers in San Francisco." said Newsom.

Newsom would not address the parcel land at Great America that the City owns nor would he answer if the City would block the 49ers building on the City parcel and

Newsom closed the issue saying, "We are focused on our site in San Francisco and working forward to processing that as we are meeting with the EPA and the Toxic Board of the State," concluded Newsom.

Tony the Tiger Hayes and Greg Grant covers 49ers football and co-host Sportstalk on 1690 KFSG Sacramento.

 

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