Disneyland Resort Clears Major City Hurdle : Theme park: Planning Commission endorses $3-billion project despite concerns about noise. Stage is set for council.

Despite serious concerns about the impact of noise, the Anaheim Planning Commission on Wednesday endorsed the proposed Disneyland Resort, setting the stage for a final review by the City Council.

“Another major hurdle has been overcome,” Deputy City Manager Tom Wood said after the commission voted unanimously to recommend the approval of the project. “We think this is a tremendous opportunity for Anaheim and Orange County.”

Both city and Walt Disney Co. officials said they were encouraged by the commission’s action but cautioned that more work is necessary before the $3-billion resort and theme park become a reality.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a done deal,” Wood said.

It is now up to the council to approve the environmental, zoning and planning documents that would govern the massive project, which includes a second theme park next to Disneyland called Westcot, as many as six hotels, a 5,000-seat amphitheater and two of the world’s largest parking structures.

City and Disney officials, however, acknowledged that even if the council approves the environmental and planning documents, the two sides still need to reach a “development agreement” addressing the financial responsibilities before construction would begin.

Furthermore, Walt Disney Co. officials routinely say that the resort could be killed if the project’s environmental impact report is challenged in court. Currently, two of Anaheim’s own school districts and the city of Garden Grove are following a “road map to litigation,” said Kerry Hunnewell, a Disney vice president in charge of the project.

Last month, representatives from schools, Garden Grove and other parties told the Anaheim Planning Commission that they supported the project but felt its impact had not been fully addressed. Some residents who live near the proposed resort have complained that the noise would keep them up at night and be a source of aggravation.

Because of the residents’ concerns, some of the commissioners Wednesday threatened to withhold their endorsement of the project if the noise from fireworks, concerts and other resort activities isn’t reduced.

“This (noise) is a big thing,” Commissioner Mitchell Caldwell said. “These people are going to have to live with this every day of their lives.”

But Caldwell and other commissioners backed off from their effort to reduce the noise level when agitated Disney officials said they couldn’t accommodate a lower level. The commissioners then insisted that the noise from the resort be monitored randomly to assure that Disney complies with the city’s noise ordinance.

“I think Disney wants to be a good neighbor,” Commissioner Robert Messe said after the compromise. “But we have to do what we can to protect the neighbors there.”

Hunnewell said the commission’s endorsement Wednesday “was a step in the right direction. But there are still some issues to be considered.”

Among those issues are the more than 60 conditions that the Planning Commission attached to its endorsement of the resort, most at the suggestion of the city staff. Those include requiring Disney to develop 500 affordable-housing units and providing a child care center for park employees.

The half-dozen additional conditions proposed by the Planning Commission at the last minute Wednesday did not seem to pose a problem to Disney officials.

“None of them caused me to have a heart attack,” Hunnewell said.

The conditions included things such as planting trees near a parking garage at an earlier date so they would be larger and fuller when the resort opened, and blending in the architectural style of other structures for visual consistency.

Mayor Tom Daly said the Planning Commission “has made our job easier. They have dealt with all the serious issues very thoroughly.”

Other people were less impressed with the commission’s action.

“The commission just rubber-stamped the project,” said Doug Kintz, a member of Anaheim HOME, a community group opposed to the proposed project. “The impacts weren’t fully addressed.”

Frank Elfend, a consultant who represents the property interests of Melodyland Church and the Anaheim Plaza Hotel near the proposed resort, said: “I’m not surprised by the commission’s action. I think it’s unfortunate that many of the substantive land-use issues were not addressed by this commission.”

At a public hearing on April 29, nearly 50 people spoke in favor of the project and about 20 spoke against it. The critics said that the environmental documents failed to analyze the severity of impacts from traffic, air and noise pollution, and affordable-housing supplies.

Most of the criticism, however, was rejected by city officials and the planning commissioners.

Another public hearing on the documents will be held June 9, when the matter is taken up by the City Council. Deputy City Manager Wood said that the council will probably hold a couple of hearings before taking a position on the documents.

NEXT STEP

On June 9, the Anaheim City Council will hold a public hearing on the Disneyland Resort’s environmental, planning and zoning documents. After the hearing is completed, which could take a couple of sessions, the City Council will vote on the project. If the council approves it, the Walt Disney Co. is legally clear to begin construction. Both the city and Disney, however, say construction would not start until a “development agreement” addressing each side’s financial obligations is worked out. That agreement is being negotiated and should be completed by the end of summer, officials say.