Golden State Warriors delay opening of San Francisco arena to 2019

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Saturday, January 16, 2016
Golden State Warriors arena sketch
Golden State Warriors president Rick Welts unveiled the team's "dream arena" on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015 at the Dreamforce Conference in San Francisco, Calif.
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OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- The Golden State Warriors will not be moving to San Francisco for the 2018 season as planned.

Warriors president Rick Welts announced Friday that the team is delaying a move from Oakland until 2019, citing recent litigation filed by arena opponents.

Last week, a group that includes the mother of a UCSF Children's Hospital patient, filed suit to stop construction of the 18,000 seat arena.

The suit argues that city officials violated state environmental laws and failed to address issues like traffic and noise.

The group calls the Warriors decision a victory

"The Warriors plans for an 18,500 seat arena with parking spaces for only 200 vehicles will cause gridlock throughout San Francisco and create economic harm to UCSF, biotechnology research, and to neighborhoods that stretch from the Bay Bridge to the Bayview," said Sam Singer, spokesman for the Mission Bay Alliance, opponents to the new arena.

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