More Time Sought for Impact Report on Disney Project

Concerned that the proposed Disneyland expansion project will adversely affect the park’s neighbors, Garden Grove officials are asking that the environmental review process be extended.

“We don’t want to be adversarial, but we don’t want our concerns to be ignored,” Garden Grove City Manager George Tindall said Friday. “We think this project is good for Orange County . . . (but) it’s going to have an impact on traffic and available housing in our city.”

The environmental impact report is a long and complex document that must by law address the effects the $3-billion Walt Disney Co. project will have on its neighbors. It must analyze the project’s impacts in terms of noise, traffic, air and water pollution, among other environmental criteria.

Disney officials said the report will be released Thursday.

As conceived, the Disneyland Resort project will be a futuristic, world-class amusement park with an international theme. The park would be built in what is now the parking lot south of Disneyland. It would be surrounded by three new hotels, all connected by monorail and landscaped walkways.

Tindall said Anaheim officials have denied Garden Grove’s request to extend by a month the 45-day review process, as well as a request for copies of the supporting documents for the EIR.

“They don’t want open a Pandora’s box,” he said. If Anaheim continues to reject Garden Grove’s requests, Tindall said, the city may go to court to try and slow down the process.

Anaheim Deputy City Atty. Selma Mann said that the city did not see any reason to extend the review period beyond the time limit established by law.

“There is going to be ample time to respond to the report and voice concerns,” she said.

The document to be released next week is called the draft EIR. The report becomes final after a review process that would include public hearings and a chance for written comments on the draft’s conclusions.

Mann added that if it appears more time is needed after public hearings on the report are held, the city will then grant an extension.

“There is not a push to rush the project through,” she said.

Kerry S. Hunnewell, a vice president for the Disney Development Co. who is heading the expansion project, said that Garden Grove’s concerns about the EIR are “a little premature” considering that the draft report has not been released and Garden Grove officials do not know what it contains.

George J. Mihlsten, an attorney working with Disney on the EIR, said the project’s impact on traffic and housing in the areas surrounding Anaheim have been fully considered in the study.

“I hope Garden Grove will be relieved when they see the report,” Mihlsten said.

Anaheim and Disney officials say they have worked closely over the past 18 months to identify and mitigate any significant environmental impacts of the proposed project.

Anaheim, which is the lead agency in writing the EIR, and Disney have held many meetings with the public and business community to hear their concerns.

Though the report is near completion, Disney officials have yet to say whether they are going to go ahead with the massive resort, and it may be some six to nine months after the EIR is approved before a decision is made, Hunnewell said.

Although Garden Grove officials strongly support the expansion project, Tindall said there is concern that the endeavor will move ahead before the city and its residents have adequate time to review the report.

Tindall said that the 45-day period is too short, especially when it comes around the holiday season with its many distractions and vacations.

Officials in other cities near Anaheim say they too are monitoring the project, though they have not requested any extension of the review process.

“We’re definitely interested in what the EIR has to say,” Orange City Manager Ron Thompson said. “Traffic is the big issue.”