Inglewood Residents Sue City over Clippers' Proposed Stadium

The Uplift Inglewood Coalition, a group made up of Inglewood, California, residents, is suing the city and alleging it "violated state laws by entering into an exclusive negotiating agreement to develop public land for the Los Angeles Clippers' new stadium," according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.

The group is claiming that Inglewood violated the Surplus Land Act, "which requires [a] public agency to give first priority to affordable housing when selling public land."

"We don't know why they continue to push in the face of such strong residential opposition," Dr. D'Artagnan Scorza, a member of Uplift Inglewood Coalition, told Shelburne. "It doesn't make any sense to us except that they're facing a $17 million budget deficit as a result of financial mismanagement and they're probably trying to figure out a way to shore up the city's finances utilizing these projects."

As Shelburne reported, it's the second lawsuit levied against Inglewood in regards to the Clippers' new stadium since March. The Forum filed a lawsuit against the city and its mayor, James T. Butts, "alleging that they held secret negotiations with the Clippers about building a new arena adjacent to the Forum and the site of the Los Angeles Rams' future home."

The Clippers currently play in Los Angeles' Staples Center, a venue they share with the Lakers, the NHL's Kings and the WNBA's Sparks.

The Clippers, meanwhile, are hoping to expedite the process to build the stadium and are seeking legislation to "provide shortcuts for approval if the proposed project faces challenges under California's primary environmental law governing development," according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

Owner Steve Ballmer said last week: 

"This is not a complicated thing we're talking about. I want to build a house in Inglewood. It's that simple. We don't have our own house. We'd like to have our own house, right here, on this site.

"So I'm excited to get a little bit of the help we need to build our house here in Inglewood. And I'm very, very committed to that and very excited about that opportunity."

A similar bill to speed up the developmental process did not pass last year.