1,600 Residents Force Anaheim to Delay Vote on Redevelopment Plan

The Anaheim City Council postponed a decision on the city’s 4,500-acre Katella Redevelopment Project Tuesday after an estimated 1,600 angry residents showed up at a meeting and expressed concerns about property rights.

The residents, many of whom were fearful that the project’s approval could mean loss of homes and businesses under the Redevelopment Agency’s powers of eminent domain, applauded Mayor Ben Bay when he closed a five-hour public hearing because there were “too many unanswered questions.”

“It is obvious we cannot approve this project tonight,” Bay said. “There are too many questions that many of you raised tonight that must be answered.”

‘Homes Are Not Blighted’

The postponement to Sept. 8 was considered a victory of sorts by residents, many of whom carried signs that read “Our Homes Are Not Blighted.”

When told that Disneyland was also included in the plan, one resident said, “Does Disneyland know that Mickey Mouse is blighted?”

The Katella project is expected to be completed in 2022 at a cost of $2.7 billion. As proposed, it is the city’s largest and most ambitious redevelopment project since renovation of the city’s downtown core began.

More than 12,400 residences could be affected by the plan, which covers an area with a population of 32,844, or almost 14% of the city.

The plan was proposed about a year ago when city planners became concerned about deteriorating sewers and storm drains in residential areas, and about growing traffic congestion.

“We’ve lived with Anaheim’s commotion and traffic congestion for 20 years. We don’t need this plan,” said Douglas Kintz, a spokesman for 230 homeowners in the shadow of Disneyland.

Many residents said they believed the project would allow the city to acquire private property under its powers of eminent domain to widen streets and undertake a major expansion of the city’s hotel row next to Disneyland.

“A lot of us felt that the meeting was rigged to go ahead and let the hotels and Disneyland expand under this plan,” Annette Tofield said outside the meeting.

Mayor’s Denial

But Mayor Bay denied those allegations: “Shoving this project down your throats was never the intent of this council.”

But the mayor warned residents that if they wanted such unsightly housing areas as the Lynne-Jeffrey region, where row upon row of some of the city’s worst housing stands, and more traffic, to “just block your mind against the project.”

Norman J. Priest, Anaheim community development director, apologized to some distraught residents for the plan’s legal language, which he acknowledged had had an intimidating effect.

But to keep pace with the city’s growth, redevelopment could achieve desired goals without raising taxes, Priest said.

Some residents, including Susana Mickels, who lives in the northeast section of the proposed project, are willing to move from their homes, instead of allowing the city to claim all or portions of their property.

“They want to widen Ball Road near where we live. There’s too much noise already. Although we love our home, we’ll go,” Mickels said.

The meeting’s attendance was believed to be one of the largest to address redevelopment concerns in the city’s recent history. Because of the large turnout, the city was forced to hold the hearing of the Redevelopment Agency and Redevelopment Planning Commission in the Freedman Forum, a 2,400-seat auditorium.

When a list of the project’s supporters was read--it included the city’s most prominent hotels, which are located in the middle of the project’s area--that prompted a chorus of boos from the largely partisan crowd.

Resident Chuck Karcher told the City Council that residents were taking a back seat to the expensive and growing needs of the city’s top tourist attractions and hotel industry.

“Is Disneyland expanding? If not, then who is?” Karcher asked.

Proponents of the project include the Anaheim Hilton and Towers, Bank of America, Anaheim Marriott, the Wrather Corp. and the Anaheim Visitor and Convention Center.

One supporter, Paul Bostwick, chairman for a city advisory committee for the Katella area, said the hotels need public support of the project: “We have a great asset in Disneyland. It is one of the biggest employers and generates lots of dollars for the city. If we don’t improve buildings and roads, Disneyland doesn’t have to stay here.” Robert Kuznik, president of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, said chamber members were at first disenchanted with the proposal.

“But now we feel that it’s in the best interests of the city to move forward with it,” Kuznik said.