Neighbors Demand Study of Anaheim’s Convention Plans

City officials in Anaheim met Thursday night to consider approving a $50 million expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center but encountered unexpectedly strong opposition from area residents who urged additional studies.

The council had not voted by late Thursday night but the meeting was continuing.

About 75 people attended the meeting Thursday night of the Anaheim Joint Powers Authority, which oversees the convention complex.

Most questioned whether expansion was really necessary and voice concern about increased traffic congestion and parking problems.

Homeowners Oppose it

“I urge the Authority not to make any rash decisions,” said Curtis Stricker, who lives in the Skylark residential area adjacent to the complex. “I urge you not to approve this until traffic and parking problems are thoroughly resolved. I have a big question about whether this whole project was adequately planned.”

Doug Kintz, president of the Anaheim HOME, a homeowners’ group responsible for the recent defeat of a controversial redevelopment proposal in the same area, said his organization also opposes the convention center expansion.

Kintz questioned why adequate planning had not been incorporated in two previous expansions of the center, so that a third would not be necessary.

“Where will the funds come from for the infrastructure improvements like sewers, street widenings that we will need in this area?” Kintz asked.

Convention center general manager Lynn Thompson said that if the expansion plan is rejected, the city would lose millions of dollars in business revenue.

Expansion and modernization of the 20-year-old structure is necessary to accommodate major exhibitions and shows, according to Thompson. If more exhibit space is not provided, the city is guaranteed to lose business to competing convention cities, he added.

Ranks Fifth

The center ranks about fifth nationwide in amount of exhibit space, trailing only Las Vegas, Atlanta, Chicago and New York.

The expansion would include construction of a 150,000 square-foot exhibit hall and a 530-space parking structure underneath the hall. The center now occupies about 53 acres just south of Disneyland and includes three exhibit halls and 46 meeting rooms. The center has already undergone two expansions during its life, most recently in 1982.

The expansion would mean a major increase in business both for the center and the city, according to the environmental impact report.

Attendence at consumer and trade shows would more than double, from 1 million in 1986 to 2.3 million in the year 2000. It is estimated that the new visitors would generate about $4 million a year in city tax revenues.

In the previous $2.7 billion Katella redevelopment plan, hundreds of area homeowners, fearing that their property would be seized through eminent domain, successfully overturned the project and vowed to closely scrutinize other proposed developments and expansions in the city.

City officials argued that the redevelopment project would generate the necessary funds for infrastructure improvements needed in the area.

“On the one hand we see the need for increased growth that would be good for the city overall,” Kintz said. “But on the downside we are likely to see increased congestion in an area that is already very congested. And in the long term, I think many residents are concerned about eminent domain.”

Thompson said that while the city is not now considering expansion onto property occupied by homes, it might be necessary to acquire and demolish five hotels and two restaurants on an eight-acre parcel at the corner of West Street and Katella Avenue to make room for another parking lot.