Meyers Nave Scores Crucial CEQA Win for Sacramento’s New Downtown Pro Basketball Arena

In a 21-page ruling, Superior Court Judge Timothy M. Frawley agreed with Meyers Nave attorneys and denied all challenges that two groups brought under the California Environmental Quality Act to the Environmental Impact Report for a downtown arena that will serve as the new home for Sacramento’s professional basketball team. As reported by the Sacramento Bee, the ruling “clears away much of the lingering uncertainty” over the $477 million project even though the Oct. 17 decision could be appealed. City Attorney James Sanchez explained that “These are significant challenges. … With the CEQA law being what it is, there are many ways to challenge a project as complex as this.”

The CEQA victory is one of many high profile hurdles the City of Sacramento has overcome with the help of a dedicated team of Meyers Nave attorneys led by David Skinner, Adam Lindgren and Amrit Kulkarni. Their unbeaten track record includes preventing the Sacramento Kings from moving to Seattle, obtaining an eminent domain win giving the City permission to take over the final piece of downtown property, prevailing against an injunction that would have delayed construction, and defeating a proposed ballot measure for a public vote on the City’s $255 million subsidy for the project.

Arena foes continue searching for ways to oppose the project, such as a lawsuit challenging the City’s subsidy and litigation to resolve the price of a now-demolished building that was the subject of eminent domain proceedings. The Meyers Nave team continues to move forward with its representation of the City of Sacramento in bringing to fruition an arena that is so important that Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 743 which declares that a “new, more efficient entertainment and sports center located in downtown Sacramento is needed to meet the city’s and region’s needs.“