(Image source from: Compton Herald)

A group of residents in Inglewood, California, Los Angeles where the new arena for the Los Angeles is proposed, filed a lawsuit against the city saying it profaned state law by signing an exclusive negotiating agreement to develop public land.

The group especially, called the Uplift Inglewood Coalition, says the city, which owns the land, violated the state’s Surplus Land Act.

The Surplus Land Act requires California municipalities to give precedence to the low-priced housing when selling public land.

Hence, the group says the land should have been made acquirable for affordable housing development before being offered to the Clippers.

"We don’t know why they continue to push in the face of such strong residential opposition," D'Artagnan Scorza, a member of Uplift Inglewood, said, according to ESPN.

"It doesn't make any sense to us except that they're facing a $17 million budget deficit as a result of financial mismanagement and they’re probably trying to figure out a way to shore up the city’s finances utilizing these projects," Scorza added.

The city entered into a sole talk terms agreement last year with the developer, Murphy’s Bowl LLC, to build an 18,000- to a 20,000-seat arena near West Century Boulevard and South Prairie Avenue.

It is next to the new NFL stadium being constructed at the former site of the Hollywood Park racetrack.

"It is simply negligent on the part of our elected officials to prioritize the needs of a billionaire over the needs of the residents of Inglewood," said Woodrow Curry III, a member of Uplift Inglewood.

The Clippers have a lease to play at the Forum through 2024 but a program to move into their new home after that.

In March, the Madison Square Garden Co., which owns the Forum, sued the city of Inglewood and Murphy’s Bowl LLC in an effort to block construction.

“The lawsuit claims the arena would violate MSG’s development agreement with Inglewood and accuses Murphy’s Bowl of interfering in the contract,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “MSG believes the agreement protects it against the construction of a competing venue less than a mile away and the project would ‘threaten the economic competitiveness of the Forum and directly undermine the purposes and objectives of the Development Agreement.'”

Inglewood Mayor James Butts called the MSG suit a “sham,” according to report.

By Sowmya Sangam