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National City Seeks Stadium Support

Seeking allies in the city’s quest for a new football stadium for the San Diego Chargers, Mayor Ron Morrison of National City wrote letters to several top elected and appointed officials soliciting their support.

The letters dated Feb. 1 were sent to San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, San Diego City Council President Scott Peters, county Supervisors Ron Roberts and Dianne Jacob, and Stephen Weber, president of San Diego State University.

Morrison generally describes the 52-acre site west of Interstate 5 and south of Bay Marina Drive and its advantages of being close to major arterials and served by the San Diego Trolley.

Morrison said a major challenge to build the project is securing financing for both the stadium and surrounding infrastructure. He said he didn’t envision the financial participation of his city or any other jurisdiction for construction costs.

Instead, Morrison sought land for the project where “revenue producing development opportunities can be identified,” and referred to the example set by Petco Park.

The Padres’ baseball-only ballpark, opened in 2004, cost about $450 million and was financed with about $300 million in taxpayer funds. Private capital invested around the ballpark is now generating tax increment dollars for the city’s redevelopment agency.

The Chargers have been looking for a new site outside San Diego for more than a year, after giving up attempting to broker a deal at its current home at Qualcomm Stadium. The team cited a lack of a development partner and the city’s dire financial condition in looking elsewhere.

In addition to National City, the cities of Chula Vista and Oceanside have also expressed interest in working with the team. The Chargers have the legal right to discuss relocating to any city in the nation, but said it will continue to work only with cities within the county for an unspecified time.

The team can leave San Diego after the 2008 season, but would have to pay off about $60 million in bonds issued in 1997 to pay for improvements to Qualcomm Stadium.

, Mike Allen

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