Anaheim OKs Zoning Plans for Disney Resort

The City Council on Tuesday gave final approval to the zoning and planning documents for the proposed $3-billion Disneyland Resort, clearing the way for the ambitious project’s development.

The 4-0 vote, with one councilman absent, means the Walt Disney Co. can begin construction immediately. But company officials say they will not commit to the project unless public agencies agree to provide about $800 million of the development costs.

Disney and city officials still are negotiating a development agreement, which would spell out who would finance what and when various parts of the resort would be built.

Tuesday night’s action by the council completed a two-step approval process that began last week with certification of the project’s environmental impact report. The zoning and planning documents, which included several new city ordinances, were introduced last week and required a second vote Tuesday.

“It was the addendum to a milestone vote,” said Disney Development Co. Vice President Kerry Hunnewell after the action. “We’ve still got the financial hurdles to get over, but we’re cautiously optimistic.”

Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly praised the city’s review process, which took two years to complete, calling it “state-of-the-art planning . . . that will hopefully result in a project that will be world-renowned.”

As approved by the council, the proposed resort includes a new theme park to be built next to Disneyland, a 5,000-seat amphitheater, a shopping district, hotels in and outside the park, and two of the nation’s largest parking garages.

The new amusement park, called Westcot, would have an international theme; visitors would voyage through miniature versions of the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. The park would also have a vision of the future exploring “the wonders of science and nature.” The complex would be built around a giant spire, the park’s hallmark.

The goal is to transform Disney’s well-trod Magic Kingdom into a destination resort where millions of tourists would eat, shop, play and sleep.

City officials say the project would help overhaul the city’s deteriorating public infrastructure and revitalize a part of the city that has been overrun by undistinguished motels, tourist shops and restaurants.

Although Disney would bear the full cost of the $2.2-billion theme park, hotels and other tourist-centered amenities, it has asked public agencies to pay for the balance of expenses, including street and freeway improvements and the 30,000-vehicle parking garages. So far, federal, state and county agencies have talked about paying between $191 million and $228 million of the costs of these public works.