Athletics clear stadium hurdle

Nov 19, 2008 - 12:46 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Oakland Athletics moved a step closer to a new stadium on Tuesday when the city of Fremont presented a Notice of Preparation to affected local, state and federal agencies, and neighboring property owners.

A Notice of Preparation is a document stating that an Environmental Impact Report will be prepared for a particular project. It is a required step for final city approval of the A's ballpark proposal.

Oakland plans on building a baseball-only stadium that will seat 32,000 and will be one of the most technologically advanced stadiums in the country with the help of Cisco Systems, which sold the land in Fremont to the A's and will own naming rights to the new stadium.

The Notice of Preparation invites interested parties to submit comments on the project. These comments will be incorporated in the drafting of environmental documents.

Following a 30-day public comment period, the city will prepare and submit a Draft Environmental Impact Report to the Fremont Planning Commission for consideration next year. If approved, the A's will break ground on the project as soon as possible thereafter.

The franchise submitted an official development application in November 2007 to develop 226 acres of land in the Pacific Commons area of the city to include a baseball-only ballpark, along with residential and commercial properties and a new elementary school.

"Our goal is to create a true community asset for Fremont and the best ballpark in the country," Oakland owner Lew Wolff said. "We are open to every constructive idea whether it is offered by city officials, community leaders or valued Fremont residents. We will continue to work hard to earn Fremont's support for keeping the A's in the East Bay."

The project is not supposed to include any public financing.

"The planning process hasn't always moved as fast as we'd like, but we are optimistic that we can succeed after listening to the community and engaging experts in the fields of transportation, architecture, and technology," Wolff said. "Our intention is to win approval of a plan that we believe will benefit both the City and the A's."