Disney Is Acting in a Neighborly Way : * Company Makes Concessions to City and Residents to Move Westcot Plan Forward

The Walt Disney Co. has made several good gestures to its neighbors concerning existing operations at Disneyland and the proposed $3-billion expansion that will add a new theme park, amphitheater and hotels.

The company agreed to spend half a million dollars to turn down the volume on its Fantasmic show, which some residents living near the park have contended was too loud, too late at night. Disneyland also agreed to drop the Fujishige family’s strawberry field from the planned theme park expansion. The Fujishiges have farmed the land for 40 years and have repeatedly refused to sell to Disneyland. Another good move was Disney’s dropping a plan for a mammoth parking structure next to an electronics company. The head of the company, a previous Disney critic, suddenly was smiling and saying nice things about the theme park.

Put it all together and it adds up to near-certain City Council approval of the project, known as Westcot. One city councilman, while correctly saying he wants to hear Disney’s answers on noise abatement questions, added that all five council members want the project to go forward. So do we, as we have said previously.

At the same time, the council has been right to raise questions about the project and not be steamrollered by promises of jobs and threats to scrap the project if it is challenged in court. The city must balance the wants of one of its premier tenants and the concerns of residents. Neighbors understandably have been concerned by worries about Westcot’s impact on property values and quality of life. Anaheim HOME--Home Owners Maintaining their Environment--was so opposed to the project that it filmed a series of short programs for public access cable television and put up a billboard urging a boycott of Disneyland. But even HOME leaders concede that there is large public and political support for Westcot, as was demonstrated by the crowds packing Planning Commission and City Council hearings on the project.

Although those who moved into the neighborhood after 1955 knew Disneyland was there, now neighbors are getting a second theme park and will have more visitors, noise and traffic to worry about. The Anaheim Planning Commission attached more than 60 conditions to its endorsement of the resort last month, most of them at the suggestion of the city staff. Both the commission and the City Council have done well to raise those concerns with Disney, and the company has done a good job of answering and modifying its plans. It is acting as a good neighbor.