After an eight-hour meeting, the Oakland City Council voted 7-1 to certify the environmental impact report for the A's proposed stadium project at Howard Terminal. Unlike some council meetings, the entirety of Thursday's session dealt with the EIR. The council took public comments two times, with some commenters making appearances during both forums to express their hope that the council wouldn't take a vote on the EIR. The public comments were nearly equal between those against and those in favor of the project, though. Many of those in favor of certifying the EIR, which signifies an enormous step toward the A's building a ballpark near Jack London Square and staying in Oakland instead of relocating, were members of local trade unions who would stand to benefit from jobs created through the construction of a stadium, around 3,000 residential units, a hotel and a performance venue that would seat approximately 3,500. Others in favor of the project moving forward included stadium concession employees and their union representatives and A's fans. Those against certification of the EIR included port interests, as Howard Terminal is currently used as a staging area for trucks that traverse in and out of the area. Union Pacific Railroad's representative voiced worries about increased pedestrian traffic, as there's an active and unguarded railroad that runs through Embarcadero West, which borders the proposed ballpark site. Several community activists also chimed in against the project, due to worries about pollution the project might create in West Oakland — where the ballpark and assorted real estate properties would reside — and what taking the A's away from East Oakland might mean if they were to leave the Coliseum. The A's and MLB have stated multiple times that the Coliseum site is not viable.(Photo: Jane Tyska / MediaNews Group / The Mercury News via Getty Images)
