MCA Charge Over Disney Deal Denied

Burbank City Atty. Douglas C. Holland on Friday rejected charges by MCA that a tentative agreement between the city and Walt Disney Co. to build a $150-million to $300-million shopping center and entertainment complex was made illegally in secret meetings.

In a letter to Ronald L. Olsen, an attorney for MCA, Holland said the city entered into the agreement in open session. He said the members of the Burbank City Council, acting as the city’s Redevelopment Agency, did not participate in any of the negotiations with Disney executives.

“There was no violation of the Brown Act,” Holland said, referring to the state law that prohibits city councils, school boards and other governmental agencies from meeting on most public issues in private.

“In negotiating, preparing, reviewing and ultimately acting on the agreement at an open and public meeting, the redevelopment agency, the members of the agency and its staff followed not only the letter of the Brown Act but its spirit and intent,” Holland wrote.

Option to Purchase Land

The council, acting as the redevelopment agency in a public session May 5, gave Disney an option to purchase the 40-acre site for the complex for $1 million.

But MCA attorneys two weeks ago complained that Disney and council members had secretly agreed in a closed meeting before a public vote to approve Disney’s proposal to exclusively negotiate for the property in a city-owned redevelopment project. Under the Brown Act, a formal complaint to the city is required before a lawsuit can be filed. Now that the city has rejected the complaint, MCA could take its charge to court.

Dan Shapiro, an attorney for MCA, said the city could “expect appropriate legal action” in coming weeks but declined further comment on the letter.

A violation of the Brown Act could void the agreement between Disney and the city.

Burbank Vice Mayor Al F. Dossin also sent a letter to MCA attorneys that said, “Your allegation that I in any way violated the Brown Act is false and in total disregard of the facts.”