In February 2007, the City certified an EIR for the Baseball Stadium in the Diridon/Arena Area Project (2006 Stadium Proposal), which included a maximum seating capacity of 45,000 and a maximum height of 165 feet, with scoreboards up to approximately 200 feet and lights approximately 235 feet above finished grade. However, due to an error in the traffic data that were used in the previous traffic study for the 2006 Stadium Proposal the City has determined that it is necessary to update the traffic analysis for the modified project using corrected traffic data to disclose a new significant impact to freeways. In early 2009, the City began exploring the development of a modified stadium project. Key components of the modified project proposal that differ from the 2006 Stadium Proposal include: a smaller maximum seating capacity of 36,000; relocation of the parking structure; an option to reposition the stadium to the south; and the realignment of South Autumn Street and South Montgomery Street near their intersection with Park Avenue.
Obviously, people will quickly pick up on the new figure of 36,000. I don't know where it comes from exactly, but it probably works when gauging impacts since it's exactly 20% less capacity than before. Beyond that, the repositioning of the stadium looks interesting since we've discussed that here many times before. It's good to have options.
The Notice of Preparation has a few other gems, including the potential acquisition of other sites outside the known ballpark footprint. If the ballpark is repositioned to the south, it would be pushed to the southern edge of the property while Park Avenue would be narrowed from four to two lanes (this stretch is the only one in the immediate area where it is four lanes wide). The PG&E substation could remain intact or be reconfigured, though the former would be a really tight squeeze.
A scoping meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 16 at the usual bat-time/bat-channel.
Update 3:11 p.m.: 36,000 is not merely an estimate for EIR study purposes. It's quite possibly the new ballpark capacity. Rejoice!
