Disney Unveils New Proposal for Port Resort : Development: Plan to cut landfill requirement by two-thirds is intended to appease shipping tenants in Long Beach and environmentalists.

A plan that would cut by two-thirds the amount of ocean landfill needed to build the proposed Port Disney resort in Long Beach has been drawn up by Walt Disney Co. officials in hopes of mollifying two of the project’s most powerful critics: environmentalists and shipping tenants at the Port of Long Beach.

The proposal, unveiled to port tenants this week and characterized as “very preliminary,” would make use of existing land at the port and cut the amount of landfill from 250 acres to 85 acres, Disney officials said. Less landfill could eliminate the need for Disney-sponsored legislation to amend the California Coastal Act; such a bill failed in Sacramento this year.

The plan is also aimed at appeasing port shipping tenants by segregating Disney traffic from port trucks, ending the prospect of lost tourists wandering into the biggest cargo port in the nation.

“I think this is something we at the port can live with,” said Steven Dillenbeck, port executive director. He presented the plan at a closed meeting Thursday to about 20 of the port’s most powerful tenants. The tenants are scheduled to report back next week. Environmentalists have yet to be shown the proposal.

The plan is one of five under consideration by Disney officials as negotiations with the port and city enter their second year. Disney was required by environmental law to come up with alternatives to the original blueprints for the $3-billion resort, but Disney officials say they are not sure this is the plan they want to build.

Disney has yet to commit to building a project in Long Beach, leaving open its options to construct instead an Epcot Center-type resort near Disneyland in Anaheim.

But the presentation of this proposal to port tenants suggests that Disney is trying to win over opponents of the Long Beach resort.

Opposition by the port’s shipping industry has been a major stumbling block in the city’s negotiations with Disney, and port administrators have vowed to reject the project if it interferes with their operation.

Disney encountered another hurdle this year when it launched its bill to amend the Coastal Act and angered environmental groups who say such a move will invite rampant coastal development. The bill is scheduled to be introduced again next year; environmentalists have vowed to fight it.

But all of that could be solved under the latest proposal calling for 50 acres of new landfill for the Disney park. Disney officials said those acres would likely be used for an oceanographic research center that the Coastal Act appears to already allow. Thirty-five acres would be built for port use.

Another 150 acres of existing land would be cleared for Disney by moving the Queen Mary to a port-operated cruise ship terminal, relocating harbor offices and buying out The Reef and Cannon’s restaurants and a Travelodge.

Environmental groups who have criticized Disney for attempting to develop the coast without consulting them were miffed Friday that Disney was again drawing up plans without their suggestions.

“If they are seriously considering reconfiguring their plans so as not to amend the Coastal Act, then we need to hear from them,” said Lisa Weil, policy director for American Oceans Campaign in Santa Monica, a leader in the fight against the Disney bill.

Some port tenants said the plan answered only some of their traffic concerns, and did little to prevent heavy traffic on the Long Beach Freeway.