Environmental Study Approved for SDSU Arena

SAN DIEGO — A supplemental Environmental Impact Report for a proposed student activities center on the San Diego State campus was recommended Tuesday in Long Beach by a California State University Board of Trustees subcommittee, SDSU Athletic Director Fred Miller said Tuesday night.

Today, the supplemental EIR goes before the Board of Trustees for a vote. If the board accepts the subcommittee’s recommendation and passes the EIR, the report will go back to San Diego Superior Court.

A group of Alvarado Estates homeowners took SDSU to court last spring in an effort to get an injunction against the university from building the center. The homeowners said traffic from the student activities center would impact their neighborhood. Superior Court Judge Ronald Johnson sided with the homeowners and ordered the supplemental EIR last March.

Miller said a busload of about 40 Alvarado Estates homeowners attended Tuesday’s public meeting in Long Beach to voice their concerns. The subcommittee’s vote was unanimous, 5-0, Miller said.

“Every university worth its salt has a major activities center,” Miller said. “Considerable effort was made to make sure every T was crossed and every I dotted (on the supplemental EIR). It’s just too important.”