ANGELS-DISNEY: A DONE DEAL : Deal Is Agreeable to Business Community, Not Residents Group

Reaction to a deal between Anaheim and the Walt Disney Co. involving the California Angels baseball team ranged from support from area businesses eager for a Disney-marketed ballclub to anger from a residents’ organization because of closed-door negotiations.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s a violation of the Brown Act [requiring public business to be conducted openly], and we want to talk to the district attorney if they cut this deal behind closed doors,” said an angry Steve White, a leader of Homeowners for Maintaining Their Environment, or HOME.

On Wednesday, a deal was unveiled in which Disney will put up $70 million toward a $100-million Anaheim Stadium renovation and the city will pay the rest.

The arrangement also would give Disney control of virtually all stadium revenue, block any National Football League team from playing at the Big A this fall and force the city to settle for a shorter lease than the 30-year commitment it had been seeking.

Representatives of Anaheim’s business community defended the agreement and said that it was important to retain the Angels because of last year’s loss of the Los Angeles Rams to St. Louis.

Stanley J. Pawlowski, executive vice president of California United Bank in Anaheim, said the proposed arrangement makes “economic sense.”

“We have our field of dreams,” Pawlowski said. “If we don’t take advantage of it now, who knows when we’ll ever have another chance to take advantage of it?”

Chris D. Van Gorder, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce president, said its members supported the agreement but expressed concern for any scaling back of the proposed Sportstown complex, and were against diverting hotel tax revenue from expansion plans for the convention center to help pay for the stadium renovations.

“The Anaheim Chamber of Commerce believes that Anaheim has an obligation to the businesses dependent upon sports to keep the sports industry alive,” Van Gorder said.

James Doti, Chapman University president and a consultant in the negotiations, said the Sportstown complex was a priority. When unveiled in January, Sportstown was a sprawling project that included a renovated Big A and new football stadium linked to the Pond nearby. The plan called for new hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, sports retailers and other features.

“I admire the city leadership in making a firm stand to make the vision of Sportstown stay alive,” Doti said after the announcement.

Under the new arrangement, however, Sportstown will be reduced to 40 acres from the original 80 acres, will have fewer hotels and might or might not include a football stadium.

Businesses surrounding Anaheim Stadium supported the new arrangement because of the high value they placed on Disney’s marketing potential.

“Having Disney coming in with their marketing ability will only help increase attendance and revenue,” said Don Myers, a partner at the Catch restaurant, across from the stadium on State College Boulevard. “The trickle-down effect is very good for the city.”

For members of the NFL Booster Club of Orange County, which has been attempting to bring a football team to replace the Rams, the announcement was disappointing, said the club’s president, Frank Bryant.

“We had hoped that Disney would be understanding and allow joint use until they could remodel the baseball stadium,” Bryant said. “I think this will hurt our chances of allowing an NFL team to come here [because] we’re losing our leverage. And, it may shifting the leverage to Los Angeles, Inglewood and other places.”

The new deal will not close the door on a football team playing at the stadium.

Jeff Kirsch, an Anaheim resident and council regular, said he is concerned about having the city drain its reserve funds to pay some of the $30 million in renovations to the stadium.

“Those reserves were somewhat sacrosanct,” Kirsch said, adding that residents may have to contend with poor street repair and other city services as a result.

White, who is also a member of a governmental reform committee, said the secret negotiations had left him and many others frustrated.

“This is the same city manager and two of the council members that voted to invest millions and millions of dollars and borrowed even more to invest in the failed Orange County bankruptcy pool,” White said. “What’s the rush here? I didn’t hear the stadium was on fire. Can’t they wait until [Tuesday’s council meeting?] But the reason they’re moving so fast is they’re trying to do this as secretly as they can.”

Times correspondent Alan Eyerly contributed to this report.