The Greening of Anaheim : Tourism: City won’t wait for resort to transform seedy Disneyland area into a lush garden district.

In an effort to remain competitive in the tourism industry, city officials said Thursday they are ready to transform the urban clutter surrounding Disneyland into a lush garden district with wide pedestrian walkways and tropical foliage.

Garish neon lights will be replaced with stately signage, and unsightly utility lines will be buried underground. Streets will be widened and large, so-called gateway posts will welcome tourists to the new “Anaheim Resort.”

For more than four years, city officials have been working on plans for a massive overhaul of the 550 acres around Disneyland. The city’s $200-million to $300-million plan is intended to go hand-in-hand with the Walt Disney Co.’s $3-billion expansion project, but will be implemented regardless of Disney’s decision to build or abandon its proposal.

“This is our vision and blueprint for the future,” said Deputy City Manager Tom Wood, who released some of the details of the plan at a press conference Thursday. “We believe it’s essential for us to go forward with this.”

City officials said approval from city agencies could come as soon as this fall, with construction phased in during the next 10 years.

Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego are fiercely competing with Anaheim for convention and tourism money, Wood said. And in a city such as Anaheim, which receives more than a third of its revenue from tourism, it is vital to compete constantly for the tourist and convention dollar, he said.

The urban decay around Disneyland’s borders has long been a source of annoyance for Disney, as well.

The city’s revitalization plan has been a key issue for Disney officials, who are proposing to build a resort with more than 5,000 hotel rooms, a large shopping district, an amphitheater and a new theme park, called Westcot, next to Disneyland.

“We’re totally supportive of the city’s vision,” said Doug Moreland, director of development for Disney, adding that the city’s efforts “will bring more tourists into the area.”

Disney officials, however, said Thursday they will not make a commitment on their project until mid or late 1995.

Anaheim will proceed regardless, city officials said.

“Right now it’s a mess out there. We’re beginning to get complaints from meeting planners out there,” said Councilman Bob D. Simpson, who is also the executive director of the newly formed Anaheim Hotel/Motel Assn. “This (plan) is desperately needed. We need to keep pace with the competition.”

Funding for Anaheim’s grand vision will come from several sources but will mostly burden new development and hotel and motel owners in the area.

A controversial 2% increase--to 15%--in the city’s hotel bed tax is included in the proposal. The city also plans to tap developers of future projects and will consider imposing “special assessment districts” for storm drain and sewer projects.

Additionally, the city will continue to seek county, state and federal funding for public works projects, such as widening streets and utility lines underground.

Under the plan, Anaheim residents will not be taxed for any of the improvements. And while the city is turning to the private sector for much of the cash, Wood said the city is trying to minimize the impact on business.

“We don’t want to discourage growth in the area, we want to encourage it,” he said, noting that the plans provides for the development of up to 16,000 new hotel rooms in the area.

“These improvements will be installed during the next 10-year period to serve demand and future growth in the area,” Wood said. “If the Disneyland Resort is undertaken within the next year or so, all of these improvements will be funded and installed sooner.”

The city will release its planning document, known as the specific plan, on Wednesday. The document will be open to public review for 45 days. Both the Planning Commission and City Council will hold public hearings and vote on the plan.

* NO RESORT DECISION SOON

Disney says it’ll take at least a year to make a final decision on big Anaheim expansion. A1