Anaheim Clears Legal Obstacles for Sports Arena

The City Council on Tuesday settled three lawsuits that have blocked construction of a proposed indoor sports arena, putting the project back on a “fast track” in its race with a nearly identical facility proposed in Santa Ana.

The settlements clear the way for construction of the Anaheim Arena to begin as early as September, with a completion date in time for the fall 1992 basketball season. The city is hoping to lure a professional basketball and hockey franchise as tenants for the 20,000-seat arena.

Under the agreements, the city will pay the three plaintiffs $300,000 in attorneys’ fees, and possibly another $400,000 in damages to one. City Manager James Ruth said all costs will be reimbursed out of the bond sale that finances construction of the arena.

While settlement of the suits clears the way for construction, there is some question about who will do the building. City officials plan to meet next week to renegotiate an agreement with Ogden Corp., the developer of the arena. Although Ogden and the city no longer have a binding agreement, both parties have continued to negotiate in good faith, Ruth said.

Ogden and the city clashed earlier this year when the developer said it would cost $94 million to build the arena, $9 million more than Anaheim officials had expected. Ogden officials also complained that the pending lawsuits had made it difficult to lure a professional basketball or hockey franchise to play in the arena.

The Los Angeles Rams, Anaheim Stadium Associates and Campanula Properties, operator of the adjacent Orange Tree Mobile Home Park, filed suit in January challenging the project’s environmental impact report. Shortly after, an Orange County Superior Court judge ordered a halt to all construction and grading for the arena until the lawsuits were resolved. Tuesday’s agreement will result in dismissal of those suits.

“The cloud is gone,” Mayor Fred Hunter said following the council’s 3-1 vote to approve the out-of-court settlements. “We are to become . . . the sports capital of America. There’s no other city in America that will have all four sports.”

City Councilman Irv Pickler cast the only no vote on the settlements, saying he refuses to spend more money until there is a guarantee the arena will house a professional basketball or hockey team. Councilwoman Miriam Kaywood was absent.

While Anaheim has wrestled with the lawsuits and the resulting delays, Santa Ana has proceeded with its plans to build an arena by approving an environmental impact report. Santa Ana also hopes to woo basketball and hockey franchises, and arena proponents in both cities generally concede that only one facility is practical for Orange County.

In another Anaheim Arena development Tuesday night, the council approved hiring an architect to design a less expensive arena, which is expected to trim construction costs from $94 million to $70 million.

The agreement calls for the city to pay $425,000 to Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc. of Kansas City for the schematic design phase of the architectural services. HOK is the designer of the $70-million Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, the Bradley Center Arena in Milwaukee (home of the National Basketball Assn. Milwaukee Bucks) and new stadiums under construction for the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles Major League Baseball teams.

The full cost for the Anaheim Arena architectural services will be $3.6 million, according to a city report. The city is to be repaid by the arena developer out of the construction financing.

Spokesmen for Ogden Corp. could not be reached for comment. But city officials say Ogden has no objection to the city’s hiring a new architect.

The settlement with the Rams prohibits arena events from beginning within two hours of Rams’ games. Also the city agrees to pay the Rams 50% of parking proceeds if the new arena’s parking lot is used by people attending Rams games, he said.

The terms of the Anaheim Stadium Associates’ settlement prohibit using the stadium parking lot for arena events without the consent of the development firm.

Campanula Properties, operator of the Orange Tree Mobile Home Park, also challenged the city’s arena environmental report in court, claiming that approval of the project was improperly rushed and that there are inadequate safeguards for increased traffic, noise and congestion.

The city agreed to pay $400,000 in “alleged damages” to the mobile home park, but only if an arena is constructed.

Under the settlement, the city also will construct walls on the south and east side of Orange Tree Mobile Home Park and create a 10-foot-wide landscaped buffer zone between the walls and mobile homes, said Jack Stanaland, president of Campanula Properties.