Disney sues Anaheim over plan

[sixflagsmagicmountain]

Sorry if this has already been posted, I did a search and didn't see anything.

 

Full Article

From the LA times:

 

Maintaining its aggressive posture, Disney officials filed suit Monday against the city of Anaheim as part of the entertainment giant's continuing efforts to thwart a residential development in the resort district.

 

The suit comes as the Anaheim City Council ponders whether to reopen debate on a controversial proposal to build 1,500 condominiums and apartments, including 225 units for lower-income residents, near Disney's amusement parks. The project was killed this month on a split council vote.

 

Disney says its action is the first time it has sued the city where Disneyland was born more than 50 years ago. The city and Disney have historically enjoyed a close-knit, fight-free relationship.

 

Anaheim is also locked in a legal fight with one of the city's other icons, the Angels, over the team's name.

 

Disney's legal challenge signals a new, hardened approach to maintaining the tourist-friendly environment of the resort district. Disney has spent years trying to buff up the resort area, going back to the days when Walt Disney expressed revulsion at the cheap motels and tacky retail outlets that had taken root outside the gates to Disneyland.

 

In addition to Disneyland and California Adventure, the resort area now includes Downtown Disney, new hotels and more upscale restaurants.

 

Disney officials say the 8,000 or so people who would be living in the proposed units would be out of place in a district designed for round-the-clock tourist-friendly uses. Disneyland President Ed Grier said allowing the project would set a "dangerous precedent." Disney prefers that the 26-acre parcel be developed as an upscale hotel-condominium project.

 

Housing advocates and some council members favored the apartment-condo proposal's inclusion of lower-cost units because it would replace a mobile home park and be convenient for entertainment workers making modest wages.

 

In its lawsuit, Disney demands that the city nullify the environmental analysis it approved for the large residential project, next to an area where Disney may build a third theme park.

[Tmcdllr]

A third theme park?

[TheBannedKid]

Possibly a water park from what I know.

[ginzo]

Ha ha. Disney opposes the development of homes that its workers could actually afford to live in. This doesn't sound like a ghetto housing project considering that only 225 of 1,500 units are slated for lower income residents. I wonder what the real beef is. Maybe Disney is just mad because they're so used to getting their way. Somehow I don't believe that the "close-knit, fight-free relationship" was anything other than Anaheim kowtowing to Disney's every whim.

[Moose]

My guess is that disney is worried that the new residents will complain about noise levels at night.

[JT3000]

Disney is constantly throwing it's weight around in Orlando, like they own the place. I'm surprised to hear it took this long on the west coast.

[SonOfBeastSucks]

My guess is that disney is worried that the new residents will complain about noise levels at night.

Those were my initial thoughts.

[arrowfanman]

A third theme park?

 

Disney couldn't build a theme park on 26 acres of land. Or a waterpark for that matter bannedkid...aren't you supposed to stop talking about Disney now?

 

 

 

 

Basically, Disney has dumped a crap-load of money into cleaning up the area immediately around the resort--they're trying to control the area as if they owned it, like at WDW where they do own it. I dont understand the premise of the lawsuit itself, but I guess the city had some sort of agreement with Disney about keeping the immediate area "touristy" and clean, and Disney thinks this is violating that. Not saying whether that's right or wrong of them, but that's business for you.

 

-Jahan

[Jew]

^Just for comparisons sake, Wild Rivers is 20 acres. So there's plenty of room for a complete waterpark if that is the route disney choses to go. 26 acres would also be plenty of room for a gigantic indoor waterpark (maybe a waterpark/shopping center??) too...

 

But anyways...Neighbors are never a good thing for a theme park. Disney has to protect its turf.

 

The city specifically zoned the area around Disney as a "tourist zone" (or whatever they called it) to attract more upscale hotels/restaurants/shopping/etc., and this project would be counterproductive to that goal.

[ginzo]

Something is weird with this. How do you fit 8,000 people into 1,500 units? That's over 5 people per unit on average, which sounds pretty cramped knowing the TINY living spaces SoCal typically has.

 

Am I missing something? There are already houses pretty close to Disneyland.

 

Disney should just shut up and buy the land.

[Jew]

^It's Southern California. Land of the "or or two official occupants with 5 or 6 (usually illegal immigrant) extra people living in their apartment. Duh.

[BeemerBoy]

Disney is constantly throwing it's weight around in Orlando, like they own the place.

Yeah, who do they think they are? It's not like they swooped in, developed an undesired central Florida swampland into one of the world's most traveled to tourist destinations or anything. Geez, the nerve of them.

 

Same goes for SoCal. I'd lean towards Disney's arguments on this one.

[ginzo]

Disney is constantly throwing it's weight around in Orlando, like they own the place.

Yeah, who do they think they are? It's not like they swooped in, developed an undesired central Florida swampland into one of the world's most traveled to tourist destinations or anything. Geez, the nerve of them.

 

Same goes for SoCal. I'd lean towards Disney's arguments on this one.

 

Well, their arguments are pretty much meaningless in and of themselves. The real question is does this development violate a formal agreement between Disney and Anaheim.

 

I still think they should just shut up and buy the land. I'd rather see Disney expand than have more apartments/condos built.

[JT3000]

Disney is constantly throwing it's weight around in Orlando, like they own the place.

Yeah, who do they think they are? It's not like they swooped in, developed an undesired central Florida swampland into one of the world's most traveled to tourist destinations or anything. Geez, the nerve of them.

 

Same goes for SoCal. I'd lean towards Disney's arguments on this one.

 

Good for them. They can do whatever the hell they want in that "undesired Central Florida swampland." They made sure of that. But when they start getting in the way of the CITY OF ORLANDO's business, there's a problem. We aren't any closer to getting light rail, something we desperately need, because of these buffoons.

[TheBannedKid]

A third theme park?

 

Disney couldn't build a theme park on 26 acres of land. Or a waterpark for that matter bannedkid...aren't you supposed to stop talking about Disney now?

 

 

-Jahan

 

Hey, shut up.

 

I did type that mistaking our talk about DLR and it's third gate as a venture Disney was looking into, not your speculations. But now that I know it was only speculation I still stand by what I said. It is possible to have a water park there, but just that; its not confirmed.

 

...I should have just typed DIE!

[Jew]

^^I think it's safe to say that those "buffoons" played (and continue to play) a big role in the city of Orlando's growth, so just like with anything else, you take the good and the bad. Which sucks, but it is what it is.