A City’s Assets Figure in Goals for 2004

Declaring Anaheim “very sound and getting stronger,” Mayor Curt Pringle on Monday announced incentives for homeowners to improve their properties and a plan to turn the baseball stadium area into a vibrant, high-density retail, cultural and entertainment district.

Pringle’s plan for a “Home Improvement Holiday” -- a 100-day period starting in March when the city will waive plan-check and permit fees for residents remodeling their homes -- was greeted with cheers.

The announcements were part of Pringle’s State of the City address, in which he recapped his first year in office and his plans for 2004 to a few hundred civic and business leaders at the Grove of Anaheim, the city’s theater.

He pledged that home improvement permits will be processed in five days or less, and that the city won’t go after residents who may have made changes to their homes without the necessary permits.

The plans for homeowners, which would have to be approved by the City Council next month, are what Pringle has called “freedom-friendly” initiatives that make it easier to own property and businesses in Anaheim.

“We value your residency in Anaheim,” Pringle said. “We want you to stay here. Government bureaucracy will not stand in the way of making your home your dream home.”

In the short term, Pringle acknowledged, the city could lose an estimated $250,000 to $500,000 in permit fee revenue. But in the long run, he said, there will be “a windfall to city coffers” with increased property tax revenue making up for the lost fees.

“More than fiscal impact, this policy is the right thing to do,” Pringle said. “We want government to be responsive to our residents.”

Pringle also signaled changes to the city’s General Plan. Among them is rezoning the 807 acres around Angel Stadium and Arrowhead Pond, an industrial area the city has long dubbed the Platinum Triangle for its potential to become the county’s commercial core.

In that largely undeveloped district, which he called one of the city’s greatest areas of unrealized opportunity, Pringle said “the door of opportunity will be pulled wide open.”

Pringle and other city leaders before him have envisioned the area as a cultural, entertainment and shopping destination. Previous plans, including an entertainment complex called Sportstown, have not materialized.

Pringle envisions high-rise offices and apartments like those surrounding San Francisco’s newer stadium, Pacific Bell Park and a transit station that includes high-speed rail.

Developers, he said, should think creatively. “Bring us your ideas.”

Pringle said Monday that the goal to raise $1.2 million for the Anaheim Challenge for Education has nearly been met. The money will fund 250 scholarships for low-income children.