Disney and allies seek to take land-use fight to ballot
Resort and tourism officials are battling a housing plan for the area.
By Dave McKibben, Times Staff Writer
March 20, 2007
Keeping up a full-court press, Disney and tourism officials announced plans Monday to seek a citywide vote to block developers from building homes in Anaheim's resort district.
The election plan is the latest in a series of aggressive steps the entertainment giant has taken to prevent a 1,500-unit condo-apartment complex, and others like it, from taking shape near Disneyland and California Adventure.
Disney, which last month sued the city to block the project, has been unbending in its position that the area be reserved for tourist-related uses such as hotels, time-share units and, ultimately, a third Disney amusement park.
At a hastily called press conference Monday, Disneyland President Ed Grier said the ballot initiative represented "a permanent solution to protect the resort." The initiative would require Anaheim voters to approve or reject any land-use changes within the 2.2-square-mile resort district.
"This ballot issue ensures the resort will remain a world-class destination, and it puts the residents in charge of the future," he said.
But Disney's announcement was immediately complicated by the state's ruling Monday that an Anaheim councilwoman — who abstained from weighing in on the housing proposal last month — can vote on the matter. The determination is critical, since the plan failed when the council split 2 to 2 on the project. Lucille Kring's would have been the deciding vote.
The ruling clears the way for Kring to vote — as soon as this evening — to bring the housing plan back for a second hearing. Two council members, Lorri Galloway and Bob Hernandez, have already indicated they would vote to rehear the project. And after getting word of the ruling, Kring indicated she would too.
It was unclear whether the referendum would trump any council decision to rehear, or even approve, the housing plan.
Kring had abstained after Disney attorneys suggested that a wine bar she planned to open nearby could affect her ability to vote objectively. But the Fair Political Practices Commission said Kring had only signed a "nonbinding letter of intent" that did not obligate her to lease space in the GardenWalk development and should be permitted to vote. If Kring signs a lease, the commission said, the issue would have to be reexamined.
"I'm very frustrated by what Disney has put me, my husband and the city through," Kring said.
As the debate over the resort district has grown, so has the divide between city leaders and Disney. Some said they were caught off guard by Disney's plan to push a ballot referendum.
"I don't feel Disney is the enemy, so when they do something this aggressive, I am surprised," Galloway said. "I am always surprised when a company decides to file a lawsuit against the city and circumvent the council's authority on land-use issues."
Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, who has proposed a compromise solution that would allow some housing in the resort district, said he was generally supportive of the ballot initiative.
"The community feels the protection of the resort as an economic engine to the city is vital," he said. "I know there's been a growing interest in trying to figure out how that can be done.
"I would favor some ultimate initiative that would protect the resort area," the mayor said. "We cannot create a land rush where residential developers come in and buy hotel properties and change the makeup of the resort."
For the most part, Disney and Anaheim have enjoyed a cozy relationship since Disneyland was built more than 50 years ago. But the housing proposal — which would include some low-cost units — has thrown the city's largest employer and Anaheim officials into a rare public feud. Grier acknowledged Disney's actions were out of character.
"I think this just shows how very important this issue is to us," he said. "And to our residents as well."
The group driving the ballot initiative is calling itself SOAR — Saving Our Anaheim Resort — and is a coalition of more than three dozen business and community leaders, including the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce and the Anaheim/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Several members spoke Monday, most touting the tourist district's benefit to the city's general fund. A chart showed that the resort area made up less than 5% of the city's land but generated nearly 50% of the city's general fund.
The group, which began forming a few months ago, is funded by Disney. By filing its initiative request Monday at City Hall, the coalition is hoping to get the issue on the February ballot.
The group will need to gather about 20,000 signatures of registered voters in six months to qualify for the February presidential primary. Coalition officials said the ballot initiative, if passed, would be retroactive to Monday and would affect the disputed 1,500-unit housing proposal.
City Atty. Jack L. White was skeptical, however.
"I don't know how we are supposed to make land-use decisions based upon a petition that hasn't even qualified for the ballot," he said. "And to have that apply to something we may be doing tomorrow, I think that's extremely unusual."
