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Warriors Arena Opponents Take Fight To Court Of Appeal

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The final buzzer has yet to ring out in the Golden State Warriors fight to build a new arena in San Francisco.

A group opposed to the Mission Bay district arena has taken its fight to the California Court of Appeal.

The Mission Bay Alliance claims an environmental impact report on the project didn't adequately analyze a range of issues, including the effect of traffic on emergency access to the nearby University of California at San Francisco Medical Center.

"Such an important environmental matter will be ultimately decided in the Court of Appeal. The violations of environmental laws are blatant," said alliance attorney Osha Meserve.

The group filed a notice of appeal in the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco, to challenge a July 18 decision in which San Francisco Superior Court Judge Garrett Wong upheld the EIR.

A deadline of five business days for filing the notice was mandated by a recent state law that provides for streamlined reviews of large projects that create jobs and meet certain environment standards.

The alliance now has 25 days to file its appeal brief and the city of San Francisco and the basketball team will have 25 days to respond. A three-judge panel will then schedule a hearing.

Meserve estimated the court may issue its written ruling by November.

The Warriors project would occupy 11 acres of the 303-acre Mission Bay redevelopment area on the city's eastern shore along San Francisco Bay. The site also contains the new UCSF Medical Center.

The 18,000-seat arena would serve as a year-round concert and event center as well as the home of Warriors games. The project also includes two 11-story office and retail buildings.

The alliance opposing it is made up primarily of UCSF donors, doctors, faculty members and stakeholders, who claim the arena could create traffic gridlock blocking access to the university's hospital.

Wong's ruling was made in two consolidated lawsuits filed by the alliance, joined by the group SaveMuni and Jennifer Wade, a San Francisco mother whose young son has a heart condition.

Wade said in a statement, "My son's health and the lives of many children depend on having access to UCSF Hospital in Mission Bay. The real-world consequences of this project are extreme."

Warriors spokesman P.J. Johnston noted that the plan has been upheld by several regulatory agencies and the city Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors as well as the trial judge.

"They have the right to appeal, but they haven't had much success to date. This appears very much like yet another delay tactic," he said.

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