Inglewood, Calif., city council to vote on plan for NFL stadium

The Inglewood, Calif., city council is set to vote Tuesday on plans to approve construction of an 80,000-seat NFL stadium, which could fast track the possibility of a team relocating to the Los Angeles area, reports the Associated Press.

The council could decide to adopt a new redevelopment plan without a public vote on the proposal. Such a plan could also forego talks about possible noise, traffic and air pollution in the area and start construction on the site in the immediate future.

A vote was made possible when Los Angeles County officials verified that there were enough petition signatures to put the issue on the ballot for April or June elections.

St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke has already bought significant acreage in Inglewood across from Hollywood Park, which could include a 6,000-seat performance venue as well as retail, office, hotel and residential space.

No team will move to Los Angeles for next season, and any team that plans to do so in the future must get three-quarters vote approval from the 32 NFL owners.

While there are numerous stadium plans for a team’s possible move to Los Angeles, officials from St. Louis and the state of Missouri are fighting to keep the Rams. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon reached agreement two weeks ago with several companies for a proposed 90-acre site for a new riverfront stadium that would be built using about 40% in public funds.

The Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers have announced plans to share a $1.7 billion stadium stadium in suburban Carson if they can’t secure funding to get stadiums built in their respective cities.

Both the Inglewood and Carson stadium projects would be built using private financing.

San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and Chargers owner Dean Spanos met last weekend to push through with new stadium plans in hopes of replacing five-decade old Qualcomm Stadium.