LOS ANGELES -- Organizers behind a proposed stadium for the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers in a Los Angeles suburb filed paperwork Wednesday to bring their plan before voters.

Submission of the ballot initiative to the city of Carson, California, marks an incremental step in development of the $1.7 billion project.

If approved, it would modify zoning laws to allow construction of a stadium on the site of a former landfill.

Organizers, funded by the two teams, could begin collecting petition signatures as soon as next week to place the plan on the ballot. They'll need to get 8,041 signatures in the next 180 days.

The Raiders and Chargers announced last month they are planning a shared stadium in Carson if both teams fail to get new stadiums in their current hometowns.

A ballot approval would put the plan on the same footing as another NFL stadium project 10 miles away in Inglewood that is backed by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke. The fast-tracked Inglewood plan last week got to skip the ballot process with a simple City Council vote because it is being added to an already-in-progress development.

Yet another stadium plan, for downtown Los Angeles, also remains alive, but has no team attached.