Agencies Agree to Seek U.S. Funds for Disney Resort Parking Garage : Transportation: Structure’s first floor would serve commuters. Action is a boost for $3-billion project.

The Walt Disney Co.’s $3-billion Disneyland Resort project got a boost Monday as county transportation officials unanimously approved a tentative agreement with Anaheim and Caltrans to seek partial federal funding for one of Disney’s two planned parking garages.

The agreement--a “memorandum of understanding” among the affected parties--calls for the proposed seven-story parking structure between Harbor Boulevard and Clementine Street to be publicly owned, with all parking revenue to go for other transportation projects.

Also, the first floor of the $223-million structure would be reserved for commuters using elevated intra-county urban rail line, express buses or shuttles to Orange County-Los Angeles-Riverside commuter trains, and for park-and-ride spaces for ride-sharers.

Under the agreement, officials said, about $131 million in federal grants will be sought for the project. In addition, officials will seek $72 million from other public and quasi-public sources. Disney’s share may be about $20 million for the garage, said Gary L. Hausdorfer, Orange County Transportation Authority chairman.

Disney officials have repeatedly said that notwithstanding great expectations for the proposed expansion of Disneyland, the so-called Westcot project is marginal financially and would go ahead only if there are major public contributions to it.

About $750 million of the resort’s $3-billion price tag is for the twin garages and street and other public works improvements. If the garage deal goes through, the $203 million in public money would be a significant chunk of the public contribution.

Anaheim’s environmental impact report on the resort project previously identified the garage as parking for more than 16,000 cars; this number would be reduced to about 12,000 under the latest proposal.

Parking revenue is projected to be about $7 million per year, said OCTA’s chief planner, Lisa Mills, who is also a Santa Ana City Council member.

“We’d be foolish to have a project the magnitude of Westcot alongside one of the most important transportation corridors in the state and not connect it to regional transportation facilities,” Hausdorfer said.

OCTA’s Washington lobbyist, James McConnell, told board members that the project has an excellent chance in Congress this year. Coincidentally, the proposed garage site was previously designated by OCTA as the site for a future park-and-ride lot. This was done in an OCTA application for a $318-million federal grant to finance directly connecting car-pool ramps, which would allow commuters to switch from the Costa Mesa Freeway to the San Diego Freeway without exiting the car-pool lanes.

The Federal Transit Administration has ranked the Costa Mesa Freeway-San Diego Freeway high on its list of funding priorities. Such direct-connect ramps are under construction between the Santa Ana and Costa Mesa freeways, and transportation officials plan to link most Orange County freeways in a similar fashion.

Last week, McConnell and OCTA officials met with the county’s congressional delegation, which was favorably impressed, McConnell said.

“We had 10 meetings in 24 hours,” said Hausdorfer, who is also a San Juan Capistrano councilman. “We were successful.”

“For once we have them all in agreement on an appropriation . . . which has not always been the case in the past,” McConnell added.

There was one holdout, officials said. He was Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), who cited his opposition to all car-pool lanes, according to Hausdorfer.

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), whose district includes Disneyland, embraced the project, Hausdorfer said.

Dornan and Rohrabacher couldn’t be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

OCTA officials will testify before a key congressional subcommittee next week, McConnell said.

As part of the proposal approved at Monday’s OCTA board meeting--and in addition to the grants for the parking lot--Caltrans will redirect $25 million in savings from the massive Santa Ana Freeway widening project to two car-pool ramps that will help serve Westcot traffic near Disneyland.