Glendale Gets a Preview of Disney Plan

Walt Disney Co.’s new “creative campus” on a 125-acre site once home to the Grand Central Air Terminal will add nearly 8,000 employees over the next 20 years to the 5,000 already working there, a draft environmental review released Thursday said.

The report prepared by the Glendale Redevelopment Agency, more than 2,000 pages long, says the influx of 7,844 new workers and the planned renovation of the site near the junction of the Golden State and Ventura freeways will have “unavoidable significant impact” on noise, air quality and traffic flow in the area.

In an interview Thursday, Disney executives downplayed the potential effects of the project, which would be addressed through increased on-site parking, phased construction, improvements to freeway exits and local intersections, and height restrictions on buildings close to residences.

“This is one of the most comprehensive [environmental impact reports] that has ever been done in Glendale and looks at an area [of] 15 square miles in three different cities, including Burbank, Glendale and Los Angeles,” said Doug Moreland, a senior vice president for Walt Disney Imagineering. “It creates comprehensive mitigation programs that deal with any impacts in the future.”

Since making their plans public in September, Disney officials have sought to paint a picture of a low-key development consisting of four distinctive areas that blend green spaces and four- to six-story buildings.

But some residents say they will be reading the fine print.

“The more square footage you put in, the greater the impact on noise, traffic, air pollution,” said Richard Ramirez, president of the Glendale Homeowners Coordinating Council, an umbrella group representing 23 Glendale homeowner associations. “And the more square footage, the more impact on everything else that’s mentioned in the report.”

Plans call for 3.6 million square feet of offices, sound stages and studio production facilities.

As part of the project, Disney plans to turn the original Grand Central passenger terminal and the now-vacant control tower into office space.

The site, whose architectural influences are drawn from campuses like those of Stanford University and Caltech, will be anchored by Walt Disney Imagineering, the research and development arm of the company that designs theme park rides and other attractions.

In a document submitted last year, city officials said zoning allows Disney to construct office towers up to 10 stories.

But Moreland declined to say how many buildings would be constructed on the site or how many would be high-rises. He said it would take 20 years to complete the project.

Disney officials played up what the project will bring to the 750-acre San Fernando Redevelopment Corridor, which was designed in 1992 to attract media, technology and entertainment companies.

The draft report says the project could generate $8 million to $14 million over its life for local schools, depending on the assessed value of new property.

Glendale Redevelopment Director Jeanne N. Armstrong declined immediate comment on the draft document, saying it is a starting point and will be the subject of months of public comment, meetings and city reviews.

“This is the release of an important document that needs to be reviewed by the public,” Armstrong said.

“In the next few months we will know if the impacts of this project can been minimized.”

Glendale City Councilman Sheldon Baker said the project holds great promise for the city.

“Any time you do something this large, it has impacts,” Baker said. “But it could be one of the more significant projects in the history of this city.

“It has the potential of being beneficial for neighborhoods, not just city government,” Baker added.

“It will create significant opportunities for business--and with it more jobs.”

Disney bought the property in 1997, although it has leased space at the park since the early 1960s. The Grand Central facility was home to the first major airport in the Los Angeles area and was used by such aviation luminaries as Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan.

During World War II, the Glendale airfield served as home base for Lockheed’s P-38 Lightning fighter planes and became a major center for the repair and overhaul of aircraft.

With the advent of jets, the facility became outdated and it was transformed into an industrial park in the late 1950s.

The report recommends major improvements at the San Fernando Road exit from the Ventura Freeway and at the Western Avenue exit from the Golden State Freeway.

They include relocating the northbound Golden State Freeway on- and off-ramps to end at Flower street about a block south of Western Avenue and connecting the Ventura Freeway’s San Fernando Road interchange with an extension of Flower Street into the redevelopment area.

The report also suggests improvements at 19 nearby intersections, ranging from adding left-turn lanes to widening and re-striping the streets.

There are 6,412 existing parking spaces on the project site--5,463 spaces in off-street surface lots and 949 on-street spaces--and more will be added, the report says. However, most of the on-street spaces could be eliminated along Flower Street, Grand Central Avenue, Air Way, Circle Seven Drive and Grandview Avenue, it says.