By Khalida Sarwari
Voters have approved a measure on Tuesday’s ballot to construct a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, according to complete unofficial election results.
The stadium measure asked voters to consider a proposal to build a 68,500-seat stadium for the football team next to the Great America theme park and required majority approval.
Measure J passed with 60 percent of the vote.
With the passing of the measure, a 2 percent hotel tax will be established at eight hotels in the vicinity of the theme park to generate $35 million toward the $937 million stadium.
The 49ers and the National Football League have agreed to raise $493 million, and another $330 million would be generated by the Santa Clara Stadium Authority. The redevelopment agency is expected to contribute $42 million.
The proposal has had its fair share of supporters and opponents.
Opponents argued that rather than stimulating the economy, the stadium would sap $67 million from the city’s general fund, because money that would otherwise go into the general fund would be diverted to the stadium.
They also had concerns about the stadium’s impact on traffic, parking, noise and air quality.
Bill Bailey, a spokesman for Santa Clara Plays Fair, a group opposing the measure, expressed disappointment in the results.
“We stand by our original stance, and that is that the subsidy of a stadium is financially a very bad decision for the city,” Bailey said. “Our group still stands by this statement: the NFL teams make money but NFL stadiums do not.”
Proponents, however, among them Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan and state Sen. Elaine Alquist, said the stadium would create thousands of jobs for local workers and millions of dollars for schools and Santa Clara’s general fund.