Two legislators have accused the California Air Resources Board of racism over delays in approving a proposed Clippers arena, alleging the agency has put the Inglewood project at risk while expediting approval for other sports complexes in more affluent communities.

At the same time, The Madison Square Garden Co., owners of The Forum concert venue, have launched a new offensive against the Clippers arena, a potential competitor, alleging the project is not suitable for the area and would cause gridlock. The public advertising campaign, which includes billboards and a website, calls for the rejection of the project because of potential environmental effects.

Madison Square Garden and the Clippers’ billionaire owner, Steve Ballmer, have waged a war against each other for years through litigation, political donations and jabs in the media.

Process less than streamlined

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) was drawn into the fight because it’s responsible for verifying the project’s eligibility for a legislative fast-track through environmental review, a typically lengthy process meant to ensure any potential impacts are properly offset. Most importantly, the streamlined process requires legal challenges to wrap up within nine months and prevents any litigation from stalling construction.

The Inglewood Basketball and Sports Center, which the Clippers hope to have open by 2024, has been under review for more than 270 days. By comparison, the Golden State Warriors’ new arena in San Francisco received approval in 63 days, according to a letter to CARB by state Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, and Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles.

The Inglewood project would be just blocks away from The Forum, a 17,500-seat concert venue, and across the street from the new 70,000-seat stadium that will be home to the Rams and Chargers, a project that was also expedited through environmental review by a local initiative. The arena is expected to seat at least another 18,000, bringing the total capacity in the area to more than 100,000 people.

In the Oct. 1 letter, Bradford and Kamlager-Dove wrote that CARB’s “inaction poses an imminent threat to the viability of the project” and could jeopardize several community benefits offered by the Clippers, including a proposal to pay $75 million toward affordable housing.

Bradford and Kamlager-Dove introduced the bill to streamline the project in 2017, and former Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law the following year.

The law, however, states that the project must not produce any “net additional emissions of greenhouse gases,” and that’s what CARB says it’s trying to do. The project’s supporters, however, say the scrutiny of the Clippers project is much more intense than others faced.

“Why put more roadblocks in front of them than any other community?” Bradford asked in an interview. “I think its an implicit bias related to race. This is a minority-majority city and, again, they’re being treated differently.”

Opposition a factor

David Clegern, a spokesman for CARB, said the agency is following the letter of the law and must ensure the project meets the appropriate standards, including a requirement that no less than half of the greenhouse gas emission reductions come from local measures, such as expanding public transit.

“The other projects were less complicated and less controversial, and did not have nearly as much opposition,” Clegern said in an email.

The National Resources Defense Council, Climate Resolve, Public Counsel and four state legislators have sent letters opposing the project.

CARB forced the Clippers to revise and resubmit their application in June. A letter sent to Bradford on Tuesday suggests CARB expects to make its decision soon, stating the agency would try to make a determination within 120 days of receiving the revised application.

Chris Meany, of Wilson Meany, one of the arena’s developers, attributed the delays at CARB to Madison Square Garden’s influence. The New York-based company has spent “tens of millions of dollars to blow up the project along the way.” The environmental groups that have attacked the project receive funding from MSG, Meany alleged.

“But they’re not going to stop us,” Meany said. “We’re not going to let some New York corporation deny Inglewood its ability to bootstrap itself into a great economic future.”

Ballmer expressed similar confidence earlier this month, just days after Bradford and Kamlager-Dove’s letter suggested the project was very much in serious danger. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the Clippers owner said he would not be deterred by MSG’s efforts to stop the project through a lawsuit.

“We’re on a path where we think we can build the arena, whatever happens in the litigation,” he said. “We’re moving along. Certainly, suffice it to say, I think the other side is just trying to slow us down a little bit. But it’s another thing where we’re grinders. We’re long-term players, and we’re grinders. You want to hit us in the nose? OK! We’ll keep moving. You can’t knock us down.”

More cars, more greenhouse gases

On Tuesday, the Forum launched www.stopclippersarena.com and a billboard campaign alleging the arena plan “will damage the environment and harm the Inglewood community” by drawing 4 million more cars and creating 550,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases. A link urges residents to contact Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office to ask him to reject the project’s application for a fast-track.

The campaign was timed to push back against attempts to pressure CARB to approve the project, according to a spokesperson for The Forum.

In a statement, the company said having three large venues next to each other would “ruin the experience for all event attendees and overwhelm Inglewood” through increased traffic and insufficient parking.

“We want to be clear: we would not be against their building anywhere else in the LA market — which would still be competition for us,” the Forum’s statement reads. “What we oppose is them locating their venue next to a football stadium and The Forum, right next to a residential neighborhood and on land that was taken through fraud and violation of our deal with Inglewood.”

Meany said the attacks are just part of the lobbying effort to sway CARB against the project. The numbers cited by The Forum are not accurate and the project has pledged to be “net neutral” on emissions, he said.

“Our project is only controversial to one group and that’s Madison Square Garden,” Meany said. He compared their opposition to the Clippers arena at Century Boulevard and Prairie Avenue to similar efforts to shut down a proposed Jets stadium on New York City’s west side.

Mayor: ‘Desperate move’

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said MSG’s new advertising campaign against the arena is a “desperate move”. He called the idea that Inglewood can’t handle the increased traffic and parking needs ridiculous.

The city managed when Hollywood Park racetrack was active and the Lakers still played at The Forum, drawing more than 40,000 people per day combined, he said.

Inglewood is used to having to fight to get approval, while the same project in other communities would be more straightforward, he said.

“This is just what we deal with,” he said. “We have to defend getting jobs for our residents. We have to defend being able to provide more police and public safety. We have to defend having the money to do infrastructure renewal.”