Sportstown Study Will Get Council Review

At the request of two of the city’s school districts, the City Council has agreed to review the environmental study for Sportstown Anaheim, a huge entertainment, retail and sports complex planned for the Anaheim Stadium area.

The study, required by state law for major projects, was approved last month by the Planning Commission.

Anaheim City Atty. Jack L. White said Tuesday that the study is “adequate in its current form.”

Officials of the Anaheim Union High and Anaheim City school districts, however, contend that it is “deficient in many respects,” said John E. Brown, an attorney representing the districts.

Flaws include underestimating both the number of jobs that would be generated by Sportstown and the number of new students who would be attending local schools, Brown said.

The financial burden created by Sportstown, Brown wrote in a letter to council members, would amount to “an unfunded mandate being imposed by your city on the school districts.”

Plans for Sportstown include 750,000 square feet of entertainment and retail space, a 500-room hotel, 250,000 square feet of office space and a 150,000-square-foot exhibition center.

City officials unveiled plans for the project in January in the hope of attracting private investors.

They have said that the complex would be built with private money rather than city funds.

Planning Commission decisions are final unless they are appealed to the City Council, which in that case must give its approval.

The review of the environmental report will likely be taken up by the council on July 9, officials said.