Anaheim and Disney Move Closer to Pact : Expansion: City and theme park report progress in negotiations over new Westcot resort development.

Negotiations on the $3-billion Disneyland expansion project have led to “conceptual” agreement on several issues between the city and Disney, but officials stressed Thursday that a proposed development agreement is still three months away.

“We have not struck a deal, nor a tentative deal,” City Manager James D. Ruth said. “However, we have significantly closed the gap on several major deal points and reached a basic agreement on several others.”

The two sides gave updates on the negotiations Thursday, hailing significant progress but dismissing outright the notion of a breakthrough. “We’ve got a ways to go” before reaching a tentative agreement, said Kenneth P. Wong, senior vice president for Disney Development Co. “The fact that we are still negotiating is proof positive that there is no deal yet.”

But, Wong added, “where the mood may have been pessimistic a while ago, it’s optimistic now. . . . We have made great progress over the last week.”

Neither city nor Disney officials would elaborate on what points have been successfully negotiated. City officials did say, however, that several vital issues are still unsettled, including construction time-lines, financial liability and land acquisition.

Ruth said the “conceptual agreements” would be reduced to writing by attorneys and he expects a detailed development agreement to be finalized in the next 90 days and then presented to the Planning Commission and City Council for review and approval.

“There are still hurdles to overcome (and) . . . much work needs to be done,” said Deputy City Manager Tom Wood, who is the city’s lead negotiator in the project. “However, we continue to be optimistic that we can reach a final agreement. . . . We look forward to making this project a reality for everyone’s benefit.”

As proposed, the Disneyland Resort would include 5,600 hotel rooms, an amphitheater, a seven-acre lake, a shopping district and a new theme park next to Disneyland called Westcot.

The project also calls for two of the largest parking structures in the nation and about $800 million in public financing to pay for those garages as well as sewers, streets and landscaping. Disney officials say the company cannot afford to build the project without assistance from the city, county and state.

Disney’s request for public money requires the city and Disney to have a development agreement that spells out exactly when the project will be built and how it will be financed.

Recognizing the project’s potential economic and social benefits to the state, including the creation of some 24,000 new jobs, Gov. Pete Wilson has agreed to contribute $60 million in state transportation money for freeway off-ramps and one of the parking structures. The federal government has earmarked at least $15.5 million and indicated it would provide a total of $131 million for the construction of a garage.

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Meanwhile, the city is still working out the details of its financial contribution, which could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Wood said the city would finance its share through “future tax revenue” generated by the project and would not dip into its general fund. Furthermore, he said a parking authority may be established to sell bonds to fund the parking structures.

The negotiations began three years ago and discussions picked up in June after the city approved the environmental impact report on the expansion plan. Several months ago, the city and Disney were far apart on many issues, officials said, but many of those differences have been resolved since the beginning of the year.

Council members Thursday cautioned, however, that a development agreement with Disney is far from certain.

“We’re nowhere near an agreement,” Councilman Bob D. Simpson said. “Sure there’s been progress, but not a deal.”

Councilman Irv Pickler said a celebration would be premature.

“We don’t have this thing put to bed yet,” he said.

Mayor Tom Daly said apparent agreements on many of the issues is “good news . . . but there are things that still need to be worked out. The reality in government is the deal is not final until the gavel comes down and there is a vote,” he said.

* AN ICE IDEA

Walt Disney Co. and city officials plan joint venture to build an ice rink.B7