Neighbors Say Plan May Help Area but Make Traffic Worse

Disneyland’s proposed expansion got a mixed review from neighbors Wednesday, with some complaining about increased traffic and others saying that the project might boost business and prompt improvements to a run-down neighborhood near the theme park.

“I don’t like it,” said Connie Krantz, a resident of Norma Lane who vowed to organize her neighbors to fight the expansion. “We have all we need on this side of Anaheim. We have Disneyland, the Convention Center, the baseball park. We have enough.”

But Thomas Matuszak, manager of a 7-Eleven Food Store at Harbor and Katella boulevards, was encouraged by Disney’s announcement. “Our sales have been down like all the businesses around here” due to the recession, he said. “This expansion would have a tremendous effect.”

Even Knott’s Berry Farm, a Disneyland rival in nearby Buena Park, would welcome the added attraction, said spokesman Stuart Zanville. “Anything that brings more people to Southern California is good for the tourism industry and good for us,” he said. “We feel once they get here, they will find a day to come to Knott’s Berry Farm.”

Many residents and local business people agreed on one thing: They hope the expansion won’t make an often-intolerable traffic problem even worse.

“If you’re worried about congestion, it’s already here,” said Will Petty, who manages a liquor store on busy Harbor Boulevard across from Disneyland.

Disney officials predict that the expansion would boost park attendance by 13 million visitors a year.

Disney says its plan would actually reduce traffic congestion by adding new parking garages, monorails and “people movers.”

“If they spent a lot of time on planning, on traffic changes and people movers, I think (the expansion) could be a good thing,” said Kathy Dwight of Norma Lane. “There are some very bad areas now.”

While some residents worried about more traffic, others said they hope the expansion would provide some relief for their neighborhood. Outside “the Happiest Place on Earth” is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Anaheim, with deteriorating hotels and apartment buildings and a rising crime problem.

Bob Ball, who lives six blocks from Disneyland on Laster Avenue, favors the expansion if it will focus city officials’ attention on the area. He said he can sometimes hear the sound of gunfire coming from the Jeffrey-Lynne apartment complex across the street from the Disneyland Hotel. “I don’t want to see my house decline in value, and I think Disneyland and others have been lacking in providing reasonable housing for the people they employ,” Ball said.

Ulrike Scott-Smith, a Walnut Street resident, said she plans to pull the younger of her two teen-age sons out of his public junior high school next year because of gang-related problems.

If Disney’s proposed expansion would help the neighborhood, Scott-Smith said she is all for it, even if it means larger crowds. “I’d rather have tourists than the people who live in these buildings” around the park, she said.

Some questioned Disney’s sincerity in proposing the Anaheim expansion. Bud Bassett, who can see Disneyland’s nightly fireworks from his back-yard swimming pool, thinks Disney officials are simply trying to win concessions from the city of Long Beach. Disney last year proposed a $2.8-billion, ocean-themed Port Disney park at the site of the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose.

“Disney is out fishing,” Bassett said. “That’s what my opinion is.”

Officials of the two cities, meanwhile, say they won’t let the competition between them cloud their judgment.

Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell said Wednesday that publicity over the Anaheim proposal won’t place added pressure on the city’s negotiations with Disney officials.

“We are right where we were before Anaheim’s announcement,” Kell said. “We have our own negotiating team . . . and there are five different community groups looking at the (Long Beach) proposal.”

For his part, Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter said he is not concerned about competition between his city and Long Beach. “We have much to do because we anticipate this will have a significant impact on the economy of this city, region and state,” he said.

Alan Hughes, executive director of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, said the potential benefits are great.

“The area has had some problems with (signs) and the Las Vegas glitz around here,” Hughes said. “If you own a home in the area, you have to be delighted. This is going to take a lot of that tourist traffic off the street.”

Traffic and glitz weren’t much on the minds of Patrick and Deanna Oberloier of Ridgecrest, Calif.

If Disneyland’s new attraction is anything like EPCOT Center at Disney World, they said, they might make a return visit to the Anaheim park.

“EPCOT’s really something,” said Deanna Oberloier. “There’s probably no way we would try to see both (WESTCOT and Disneyland) in one day.”

Times staff writers Kevin Johnson and Bob Schwartz contributed to this story.