The Walnut City Council has settled its lawsuit against neighboring City of Industry over billionaire Ed Roski Jr.’s proposed National Football League stadium.
Under terms of the settlement disclosed Thursday, Industry could end up paying as much as $24.7 million in cash payments to Walnut alone over 30 years, including $9 million for traffic mitigation and reimbursement of up to $725,000 in legal fees. The city would pay at least $350,000 a year for at least five years into a community fund, to be operated by Walnut, for various community and recreational programs.
Walnut filed suit against Industry and Roski’s Majestic Realty Co. in March, contending Industry should not allow the 600-acre project to go forward without a full environmental impact report something Majestic balked at doing because of the cost.
However, the Walnut council in closed session Tuesday night voted to accept a settlement that would allow the 75,000-seat stadium project to proceed without a full report as long as some measures are taken to lessen traffic and other environmental issues, said Jan Chatten-Brown, an attorney representing Walnut.
Walnut’s hand was forced by a pending state Senate bill that would have granted an environmental exemption for the project. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg postponed a vote on the legislation earlier this month to give negotiators more time. The talks were mediated by former California attorney general John Van de Kamp.
“Walnut took the reasonable and prudent course,” Chatten-Brown said. “There was a high probability that the legislation would pass if the lawsuit settlement negotiations fail. That legislation would have allowed the stadium to be built without addressing the major concerns of Walnut.”
The agreement, signed by officials from the cities of Walnut, Industry, as well as Majestic Realty and its subsidiaries, left open the possibility that Industry could seek some of these funds from stadium developer Majestic Realty Corp. Industry is likely to seek a separate agreement with Majestic for a least partial reimbursement of an estimated $41 million in capital projects in the vicinity of the stadium, such as street improvements and a new fire stations.
Majestic is still likely to face opposition from a Walnut citizen’s group that filed its own lawsuit. Talks with that group broke down Wednesday.
It is not at all certain if the stadium will ever be built. Roski has said he will not move forward with the project unless he first secures an NFL team and so far he has been unable to do so.
Staff reporter Howard Fine contributed to this story.
