In an unpublished opinion, the Fourth District Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit over the November 1998 ballot measure approving financing for San Diego's new baseball stadium. Ballpark opponents, led by former City Councilman Bruce Henderson, argued that the city should have prepared an EIR ahead of time, that the measure required a two-thirds vote, and that Proposition C should have specified that the city would incur $225 million of new debt. The unanimous three-judge panel rejected all of the arguments. Regarding the EIR issue, the court said the election, which approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Padres, did not vest the Padres with any land-use rights, so it did not qualify as a project under the California Environmental Quality Act. "[T]he city remains free to consider alternatives to the ballpark plan, including the ‘no project' choice, upon receipt of the EIR," Justice Gilbert Nares wrote for the three-judge panel. The two-thirds vote provision did not apply because the MOU did not commit the city to any form of financing, the court ruled. "[F]inancing options are available which may be effected without a vote of the electorate," the court said. The case is Mailhot v. Abdelnour, No. D032123.