LAST-MINUTE PREP FOR NFL PROPOSAL CAMPAIGN TO RETURN FOOTBALL TO COLISEUM TYING UP LOOSE ENDS.

Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer

With the National Football League scheduled soon to choose a Southern California site for professional football's return, a Los Angeles city panel Wednesday took steps to ensure there are no barriers to reaching a deal.

The City Council's Ad Hoc Stadium Committee set a May 19 deadline to finalize a series of agreements needed to clear the way for the NFL owners - meeting two days later - to make a decision on where a football team could be located.

``I think it's important for us to show that there are no obstacles left,'' said Councilman Bernard Parks, who has been leading the effort to bring football back. ``We have a number of agreements that need to be approved for us to be able to make a deal.''

Among these are questions over the rights for signage - which has proven to be a valuable source of income for teams - on and around the property.

A city delegation led by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Parks is scheduled to meet next week with a committee of NFL owners to make the case for Los Angeles' selection over competing efforts by Anaheim and Pasadena.

That committee is expected to make a recommendation for a May 21 meeting of all the owners.

``We are doing all we can to get this done,'' Parks said. ``We don't want to leave anything open for a possible delay.''

The committee received a review of the work that has been under way for the past several years to try to lure football back, including the latest stadium renderings.

In those, the shell of the Coliseum would be preserved but the interior would be remodeled to allow for 200 luxury suites, 15,000 club seats and a configuration accommodating 67,000 spectators for professional games.

The plans also call for creating an additional 8,000 parking spaces around the Coliseum to deal with long-standing complaints over the lack of secure spaces.

Pat Lynch, general manager of the Coliseum, said he believes the negotiations are at their most successful point at any time in recent years.

``This is a unique situation for the NFL,'' Lynch said. ``All we are promising them is a ground lease on the Coliseum. They will have to pay 100 percent of the cost of a stadium. They aren't used to that. They are used to getting some subsidy or even having the local taxpayers completely build a stadium. We aren't doing that.''

The proposal also calls for making the NFL the operators of the Coliseum for the term of the lease.

``From our standpoint, there is less risk for a high return,'' Lynch said. ``The only risk we have is if the team fails and one of the things the NFL wants to do is manage this process so they don't fail.''

An economic analysis prepared for the Coliseum Commission estimates a professional football team will create 4,200 full- and part-time jobs and generate up to $13 million a year in tax revenues.

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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