Jun 26, 2008

Developers: Suit won't save Bay Meadows

Project groundbreaking still planned for September

By Will Oremus / Daily News Staff Writer

Lawsuit or not, the 74-year-old Bay Meadows Race Track is on pace to be torn down this fall, developers said Wednesday.

"We're continuing to move forward with our plans just as we always have," said Adam Alberti, spokesman for the Bay Meadows Land Co. With the track's final races scheduled for August, the company expects to break ground on its 85-acre redevelopment project in September.

The statement counters recent claims by activist group Friends of Bay Meadows, which has opposed the long-planned project at every turn. The group said Tuesday it expected its latest lawsuit to delay groundbreaking until at least mid-October.

The suit, which challenges the city of San Mateo's environmental certification of the project, will get its first hearing on Oct. 10 in San Mateo County Superior Court. Dana Dean, attorney for the Friends group, said developers typically wait until such suits are settled to start construction.

Not in this case, Alberti said.

"It's essentially a nuisance lawsuit, in our opinion," he said. "It's not going to impact our timing whatsoever."

Informed of the developers' response Wednesday, Dean said, "I'm surprised. If they go forward and then they're wrong, it's a mess."

As for the charge that the suit is "frivolous," Dean said simply, "It's not."

The back-and-forth exchange comes after the long-planned, oft-delayed project appeared to have cleared its final major hurdle. The San Mateo City Council approved detailed plans, including an updated environmental report, in April by a 5-0 vote.

In May, however, the Friends group filed its last-ditch suit.

In it, they charge that the city's approval failed to properly account for rising doubts about planned Caltrain connections to the development. They also claim the city did not adequately consider the track's historic nature.

Friends leader Linda Schinkel acknowledged the group hopes the suit will delay the project.

"Certainly we're hoping that with the economy and certain changes that are going on, there might be some light at the end of the tunnel," she said. "Who knows what a year could bring?"

But Schinkel said the group is also serious about the environmental issues raised in the suit.

"Ninety-eight percent of the people on our e-mail list are residents in San Mateo or one of the neighboring cities," she said. "We have concerns about these recent changes related to funding for infrastructure (such as) underpasses and rail crossings."

As approved, the redevelopment project would create up to 1,200 homes, 750,000 square feet of offices, 100,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, and 15 acres of parks.

The track's final horse races are slated for Aug. 8-19.



E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@dailynewsgroup.com.