Anaheim Will Extend Arena Moratorium

The city of Anaheim agreed Wednesday to extend a moratorium on construction of its proposed $95-million indoor sports arena, bowing to pressure from the Los Angeles Rams and a development company.

The agreements signed by Anaheim, the Rams and Anaheim Stadium Associates forbid the city from grading or building on the site of the 20,000-seat arena pending a court hearing on the sufficiency of the city’s environmental impact report. Lawyers in the case said the hearing probably would not be held for at least two months.

The owners of Orange Tree Mobile Home Park, which borders the arena site, refused to sign a similar agreement, however, saying that it afforded them too little protection.

The mobile home park owners wanted Anaheim to go further and agree to continue abiding by the terms of a temporary restraining order issued on Jan. 26: that Anaheim take no steps of any kind--including spending money or signing leasing agreements--pending the court hearing on the environmental impact report.

When Anaheim refused to sign such an agreement, attorneys for the park asked Superior Court Judge Eileen C. Moore to extend the restraining order, but Moore said Wednesday that she thought it was too broad. Moore added that she was inclined to grant a ban only on construction or physical changes to the arena site--restrictions similar to those in the agreements with the Rams and Anaheim Stadium Associates. But she extended the broader order until Friday and agreed to hear more arguments then.

Wednesday’s developments signal further delay in the construction of the arena on Douglass Road, north of Katella Avenue. The city had hoped to open the arena in time for the start of the 1991 professional basketball season. The delay could also complicate Anaheim’s efforts to lure a National Basketball Assn. or National Hockey League franchise to town.

Under terms of the agreements with the Rams and Anaheim Stadium Associates, Anaheim may not engage in any demolition, grading or construction on the site or issue any permits for those activities, pending the court hearing on the environmental impact report. Anaheim may conduct surveys and “other non-obtrusive” planning, testing and engineering “at its own risk,” as long as the city does not permanently change the property.

The mobile home park, the Rams and Anaheim Stadium Associates--a partnership that includes Rams owner Georgia Frontiere--all sued to set aside the arena’s environmental impact report, contending that it was inadequate.

They also claim that the report was rushed through because Anaheim is racing against Santa Ana to be the first city to open an arena. The Santa Ana City Council is scheduled to consider approving the environmental impact report for its own arena Tuesday night.

Campanula Properties, which owns the mobile home park, is worried about traffic and noise from the Anaheim arena. ASA and the Rams are concerned about the use of the stadium’s parking lot for arena games and the booking of arena events and Rams games on the same nights. ASA has development rights to the stadium’s parking lot.

On Wednesday, Campanula Properties attorney Robert S. Coldren attacked the environmental impact report, saying it ignored the presence of a high-pressure gas pipeline within 1,000 yards of the project and relied on a 2-year-old study on seismic activity in the area.

But Joel D. Kuperberg, an attorney representing Anaheim, countered that the gas pipeline poses no threat because there are no active faults in the area. The earthquake study is reliable because “new faults don’t just pop up,” Kuperberg said.

“There’s been no significant seismic activity in the area since the brontosaurus passed away,” Kuperberg said.

Coldren also criticized the traffic and air-quality studies because they failed to mention the possibility that hockey games would be played at the arena.