NFL recognizes the traffic generated from their venue is hurting Inglewood businesses, not helping them
The Inglewood Planning Commission meeting met Jan. 18 to approve three (3) murals related to the upcoming Super Bowl. The three agenda items were non-public hearings, which left residents unable to speak on each item individually.
Economic Development Director Chris Jackson introduced the NFL Media Good Neighbor Program by stating it was designed to support small business in close proximity of the stadium.
“I first want to apologize that you received your agenda packet without this case in it and that’s because we were working diligently with the NFL Media to facilitate the program you saw in the staff report,” said Jackson.
The NFL Media Good Neighbor Program will commence with upgrading the exterior of Kenny’s BBQ located at 11011 Prairie Ave.
Jackson showed a PowerPoint presentation depicting two version of proposed murals at the site.
“They are paying to improve the landscaping, painting the building, and providing signage which is important to small businesses who don’t have the financial means to support that,” explained Jackson. “This is how businesses thrive here.”
Dave Shaw, in charge of media operations for the NFL Media Group, explained they have a five-year commitment to Inglewood, which coincides with the city being guaranteed two Super Bowl’s over the next five years.
“This is a brand-new program, and one Chris and I have talked about since we’ve been building,” said Shaw. “We are targeting small businesses that are locally owned, well-established, minority-owned, and local proximity to our NFL campus.”
“Businesses along Prairie, Manchester, and Century, primarily, and just trying to help out, in a small way, businesses affected by our presence and recognize the extra traffic doesn’t always help their businesses. It actually hurts them because local residents aren’t actually going there, and people from out of town won’t necessarily go to these places, as well as our own NFL employees,” said Shaw. “The idea of this program is to try to help the small business owners to be able to have establishments that draw more people from the games/events to their businesses.”
The program plans to assist up to two businesses per year, for the next five year, is the scope of the program.
“We are looking to get more backing. We are talking with Pepsi and Visa to partner with us to bring in more money to put money into this program,” said Shaw.
Commissioner David Rice was concerned the program doesn’t appear to include businesses not in close proximity to the stadium.
“This city is all encumbersing and I want to ensure everyone gets a fair share of any assistance offered to any business in the city and I don’t want anyone to come into the city focusing on something that is self-serving,” said Rice.
Rice is responsible for hosting and organizing the popular Taste of Inglewood events, which the city’s taxpayers sponsor every year.
The NFL Network moved twenty-two of their departments to the Hollywood Park campus and have a 20-year lease at the site.
Shaw is working to have the first project at Kenny’s complete by Super Bowl LVI which will take place Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium.
1 Comment
HOW EMBARRASSING!! We call these people a “planning” commission ?
Wow the audacity to use the term “ GOOD NEIGHBOR PROGRAM” ! If the NFL was a family which each week caused distress in the neighborhood no one would tolerate them and the city council would hold them to the same standards as others and call the whole thing a nuisance!!!!
GOOD NEIGHBORS DO NOT LITTER,
GOOD NEIGHBORS DO NOT BLOCK DRIVEWAYS,
GOOD NEIGHBORS DO NOT DISREGARD TRAFFIC SIGNALS,
GOOD NEIGHBORS DO NOT ALLOW THEIR “Guests” TO TRAMPLE ANY NEIGHBOR’S PROPERTY.
NFL has NO idea what a GOOD Neighbor is!
“Designed to support small businesses” huh define support what a crock of misused words!
A CAN OF PAINT will NEVER MAKE UP for buying the 5 votes which allowed the monstrosity to be built without mandatory sufficient parking on their own 238 acres. This elephant in our living room will not be made less offensive by painting a cast off toe nail here or there!!
The businesses along Prairie have lost access to their only parking so that stadium traffic can congest our streets from Imperial to the SoFI Stadium.
No Mister Shaw this is not a small way of helping IT IS JUST ANOTHER CRAFTY BIT OF MORE SELF PROMOTION. It is an inexcusable attempt to get residents to say thank you for the can o paint. The Commercial Building Design code should not be amended so that SOFI BILLIONAIRES can slum down our community, Doos anyone think either of those designs are “High End” or “Beverly Hills appropriate.” These designs scream INSULT TO EVERY NEIGHBOR THAT HAS TO PASS IT TO GO TO OR FROM HOME!!
“Doesn’t always help” who the blank are you kidding the “Kroenke traffic” DESTROYS the ability for our real local residents to access their real local business.
Oh my GOD ! Seriously NFL wants applause for painting 2 whole businesses a year for 5 years !!!!!!!! Really the poor NFL ONLY TOOK IN 12 BILLION Dollars last year and had the nerve to persuade their benefactor electeds to try to have residents foot the bill for the people mover to benefit the BILLIONAIRES!
IF NFL can’t manage their 12 Billion maybe Inglewood’s real small business owners should brew a pot of Folgers and share some of their insights of running a business and providing locals jobs without blowing thru Billions.
Really what crock? How did Rice get those words out of his mouth without gagging? He has been one of the prime campaign supporters of MR SELF-SERVING himself.
Could we expect different? Probably not this is the same group who approved the Over Building Transit Zones..and the GOD AWFUL massive animation projection sales pitching screens in the skythroughout our community, hmmm how much will we be stuck for when we are sued for creating traffic way distractions .
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