Councilman Scott Sherman said Wednesday that voters should not sign petitions aimed at allowing San Diego State University to purchase the SDCCU Stadium site in Mission Valley because of a lack of details in the proposal.
In an eight-page report that compares the plan by Friends of SDSU to that of SoccerCity, he said the shortage of specifics for the SDSU plan was "troubling."
"Due to lack of specifics, it is impossible to determine the impacts of the SDSU West campus expansion proposal on the Mission Valley community and San Diego taxpayers," Sherman said.
"Therefore, I urge San Diegans to refrain from signing the ballot measure currently being circulated," said Sherman, who publicly backs the SoccerCity plan. "San Diegans deserve to review the details before committing to placing the measure on the ballot."
According to Friends of SDSU, their 13-page initiative is aimed at allowing the university to acquire the site, which became available when the Chargers moved to Los Angeles, but have school officials develop the details.
State law bars SDSU from becoming involved in the political side of the issue, which is why the "Friends" group is carrying the proposed ballot measure to the voters.
"SDSU West is designed to protect the long-term interests of the city, San Diego State University and all San Diegans," according to a Friends of SDSU statement. "Only our initiative carefully balances those interests. "We welcome community feedback on the initiative, but a public and transparent planning process is imperative to determine the future of the SDCCU Stadium site."
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The group began collecting circulating petitions on Saturday and has until the end of the year to collect nearly 72,000 valid signatures. If SDSU West joins SoccerCity on an election ballot, it is believed that the one with the highest total of "yes" votes would gain rights to purchase the property.
SoccerCity has already qualified for a public vote.
Both entities plan to replace the stadium with a smaller, multi-use version and add housing, commercial space and parkland.
Sherman, however, contended that SDSU West provides no information about costs, the number of housing units that would be built or traffic mitigation.
RELATED: San Diego City Council Votes To Put SoccerCity On 2018 Ballot
A group called Public Land, Public Vote also weighed in to contend Sherman was not "an objective source" on the issue and that his report was "factually wrong on several levels." The group was formed to oppose the SoccerCity plan.
"SoccerCity is and continues to be a one-sided deal that benefits a small group of wealthy developers that are not obligated to deliver on any of their promises, a fact that has been validated numerous times by our own city attorney," the group said in a statement.
Sherman said, however, that the 1,300-page SoccerCity initiative spelled out all of the details.
"While some do not agree with the SoccerCity proposal, at least they know why they are opposed to it," the councilman said.
He said he knows "what will be built, when, where, how, and most importantly, who's paying for it" with the SoccerCity plan.
