National Football League

Judge tosses challenge to 49ers deal

Published Mar. 6, 2012 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

A judge says the issue of building a stadium for the San Francisco 49ers cannot go before Santa Clara voters a second time.

Officials with the 49ers officials praised the ruling Monday and said construction could begin this spring.

The judge made the ruling Monday in response to a last-ditch attempt by a group to block the city's stadium deal. The group, Santa Clara Plays Fair, is opposed to city officials' approval of $850 million in bank loans to fund the $1 billion stadium. It argued that the bank loan wasn't part of the measure that voters approved in 2010.

The group tried to put the issue back on the June ballot. The city countered that the loan was an ''administrative'' act that didn't need voter approval.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Peter Kirwan sided with the city.