Disney’s 3rd Park Is Facing Scrutiny

Raising the first concerns about a third Walt Disney Co. theme park in Anaheim, scheduled to open in 2003, local agencies are questioning the project’s impacts on traffic, sewage, flooding and smog.

Although the agencies support expansion, they also disagree with Disney’s premise that extensive improvements already made to Anaheim’s streets, sewers and drainage systems are all that’s needed for the project.

For example, officials in Garden Grove, just south of the proposed development, said a third park could overtax its public works system--and that Disney or Anaheim should pay to offset needed improvements.

“We support the project, but there are impacts that need to be addressed,” said Garden Grove City Manager George Tindall. “If there are problems, they need to mitigate any impacts.”

Disney announced one month ago that it would turn 78 acres currently used for farming and parking into a so-called “third gate” that may include a theme or water park, hotels, a retail and entertainment district and a large parking lot.

The site is bordered by Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue, just southeast of 45-year old Disneyland and a new Disney park, California Adventure, which will open next year.

Disney officials believe that Anaheim’s $546 million in bonds to upgrade the Anaheim Resort Area--including Disneyland, California Adventure and the Anaheim Convention Center--will take care of all improvements. Anaheim officials agree, but also say that an environmental impact report is needed for confirmation.

Even before Disney proposed the third gate, Garden Grove officials argued that streets south of Disneyland could not adequately accommodate additional traffic generated by California Adventure. Aside from widening Katella Avenue and Harbor Boulevard, Anaheim has focused on alleviating traffic by increasing access to and from the Santa Ana Freeway.

Tindall said the addition of a third theme park will make matters worse. And Anaheim and Disney will have to take responsibility for the improvements, he said.

Similar comments came from nearby Santa Ana, also concerned about increased traffic, and Orange County’s transit agency, which wants more bus turnouts if a third park is built.

Garden Grove stands to gain greatly from future Disney developments. It recently built six new hotels on its northernmost portion of Harbor Boulevard in anticipation of California Adventure’s February opening.

However, Tindall said that Disney or Anaheim will have to increase current flood control and sewage capacities so they don’t tax Garden Grove’s facilities.

Haster Basin, a flood control facility downstream of the proposed third gate in Garden Grove, could require modifications, he said, a point also raised by county planners.

And sewage pipes downstream of Anaheim that are owned by Garden Grove can’t handle additional flows. A third theme park could also overburden Garden Grove’s public safety officers, he said.

Ray Gomez, a spokesman for Disney, isn’t worried about the concerns.

“This is what the process does,” he said. “It raises issues.”

But he said that the third gate won’t need additional infrastructure improvements because the work was already anticipated in the Anaheim Resort’s massive face lift.

Tom Wood, Anaheim’s deputy city manager, pointed out that although designers didn’t plan for a new theme park, the area can now accommodate 20,000 more hotel rooms.

“It was designed so we wouldn’t have to tear it up again,” said Wood.

Wood acknowledged that a theme park may place different constraints than hotel rooms on the traffic, sewage and drainage systems.

However, he said, it’s premature to speculate until the environmental impact report comes out. If the report finds the current infrastructure lacking, Disney will have to pay for improvements, he said.

Meanwhile, a nearby developer has cautioned against allowing Disney too much leeway in designing the project.

The developers of Pointe Anaheim, a proposed $500 million cluster of shops, theaters, nightclubs and hotels adjacent to Disney property, expressed concerns about Disney’s request to waive any final site plan reviews and conditional use permits for the proposed park.

Disney’s new project could greatly affect Pointe Anaheim because it includes a gigantic 9,000-car garage on nearby property.

In a letter to the city, Pointe Anaheim General Manager Robert Shelton warned that waiving the normal final review and permits would give the public only one chance to express concerns about the project.

That would come during public hearings after the environmental impact report is completed. A final site plan review gives the public a last chance to comment before construction begins.

“We’re concerned because like anyone else surrounding Disneyland, we’re basing our plans on constraints applied to the area,” Shelton said.

Wood said that the city has not yet decided whether it will waive the final site review.

Despite their preliminary concerns, officials from Garden Grove and Pointe Anaheim indicated they’re still enthusiastic about the prospect of a third gate.

“Disney is a very important economic element to this part of the state,” said Shelton. “No one will say ‘Don’t do it.’ It’s just: ‘Do it appropriately.’ ”

*

Times staff writer E. Scott Reckard contributed to this report.