OC Blog

SunCal Folding the Tent?

It's not a done deal yet, but it looks like SunCal's attempted end-around on Anaheim's zoning laws may be coming to a close.

First it was reported last week that SunCal dropped the ball on the option it had been carrying on the land in question, now we find the company has told the city it will not be responsible for costs in the lawsuit it brought about from Disney versus the city.

SunCal Sues Owner of Disputed 26-acre Parcel

In the on-going battle between SunCal and Disney over the former's proposal to rezone a portion of the Anaheim Resort Area to allow a 1500-unit residential housing development, OC Blog readers are well aware that Anaheim Council Members Lorri Galloway, Bob Hernandez, and Lucille Kring have sided with SunCal.

Disney Loses Lawsuit Against City of Anaheim

In a setback for Disney's quest to control the Resort District, OC Superior Court Judge Stephen Sundvold has ruled against the Mouse in one of its lawsuits against the City of Anaheim that it filed in its effort to stop SunCal's plans for a residential development on the periphery of the Resort District.

You can read the ruling here.

[Full disclosure: I'm a member of the SunCal consultant team on this project.]

Maybe It All Depends On Who's Against The Housing...

A major talking point of the Disney/SOAR campaign against SunCal's proposal to build a condominium development at the outer edge of the Resort District is that housing so close to a major entertainment destination is just inappropriate. All those people and cars coming and going, the night life, etc. -- it's not good for the people who'd live in the condos.

Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu has been a staunch proponent of the Disney/SOAR viewpoint...at least since this February.

Sidhu's opposition to building possibly 1,500 condominiums roughly half-a-mile as the crow flies from Disneyland is a jarring contrast to his staunch support for building 1,100 apartments right next door to Anaheim Stadium. 

When A Deal Is Not A Deal

This August 31 Los Angeles Times article is reminder of the elasticity of the phrase "a deal is a deal" in contemporary Anaheim politics.

Case in point is the City of Anaheim's plan to develop the 53-acre site next to Anaheim Stadium (Archstone-Smith and Hines was granted exclusive development rights by the city). Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu has been the chief cheerleader of this undertaking. The Archstone plan is for mix of offices, retail, entertainment, hotels and residential (including 1,100 apartments).

Angel's agreement with the city requires that the team -- in other words, Arte Moreno -- has to sign off on any residential development on that site. Moreno doesn't want to sign off.

Which doesn't deter Councilman Sidhu:

Should Government's Quest For Money Trump All?

The following is from the the ballot argument in favor of Measure P, the anti-Kelo charter amendment approved by 80.3% of Anaheim voters in November 2006:

One of the basic rights we Americans have is property rights. This means that government may not seize our property without a public purpose and fair compensation.

However, our property rights have been eroded by a recent Supreme Court decision called Kelo v. New London, in which the city of New London, Connecticut seized the Kelo family home, and their neighbors, because the city wanted a resort hotel in their place. The residents did not want to sell, so they used their power of eminent domain to force the residents to move.

We all know that in clear cases of public opinion, like building a road, government may need to use eminent domain. But when the sole "public purpose" is the hope for greater tax revenues then that is an abuse of power.

[Emphasis mine]

Disney/SOAR Turns In Ballot-Box Zoning Initiative

At last night's meeting, when the City Council failed to back Councilwoman Lorri Galloway's motion to ensure Disney's referendum and initiative would be on the same ballot and instead voted to put the referendum on the June 2006 ballot, one of my first thoughts was that Disney/SOAR would submit their initiative signatures for verification the very next day.

Sure enough, they submitted to the Anaheim City Clerk City all 31,348 of the signatures they've been collecting since spring.

Disney/SOAR's has frequently  and publicly expressed a profound concern with the expense to taxpayers of holding special elections. In fact, that concern is so great that last month Disney/SOAR asked the City Council not to hold the referendum and instead rescind the zoning for the SunCal project (despite asking voters to sign the referendum petition in order to "protect your right to vote."

Given that zealous concern for not wasting taxpayer dollars, one would expect Disney/SOAR to ask the City Council to place the Disney/SOAR initiative on the June 2008 ballot alongside their referendum. That way, Disney won't waste taxpayer dollars by forcing two special elections about the Resort District. [Full disclosure: I'm part of the consulting team fighting the Disney/SOAR ballot measures.]

UPDATE (8/23/07): For those interested in watching the art of staging a campaign event, here's some video I shot yesterday of the Disney/SOAR signature turn-in using the trusty Red County UnsteadiCam:

The Disneyheim Campaign: $1.35 Million Spent...And Counting

I was perusing the Save Our Anaheim Resort (SOAR) campaign report covering the period April 1 through June 30.

I expected a big number, but $1.35 million spent and $1.5 million donated in the space of three months? Gloriaski.

Disney/SOAR likes to characterize their campaign to control...excuse me, "preserve"...the Resort District as a "grass-roots" movement.

If that's the case, then this has got to be the most expensive grass-roots campaign in political history.

Disney's Carousel of Progressing Spin

General Electric's Carousel of Progress remains one of my all-time favorite Disneyland attractions -- even though it's been gone for almost 30 years. The attraction -- even its name -- oozed that early 1960s things-can-only-get-better optimism about the future that infused the old Tomorrowland.

For those who never had the opportunity to experience it, The Carousel of Progress (where Innoventions is today) was basically a moving theater. The theater you sat in rotated around a central core in which AudioAnimatronic family exposited on the wonders of electricity and technology in a time-traveling series of sets spanning the early 1990s through to the future of Progress City. It was very cool.

It made my free-association kind of brain of think of the evolving spin from the Disney/SOAR campaign about their referendum to repeal the Anaheim Council's approval of a zoning overlay permitting residential development at the edge of the Resort District [aaand cue full disclosure: I, Matthew Cunningham, am a member the consultant fighting Disney's opposition to the zoning overlay]. The evolving, changing nature of Disney/SOAR message on this issue could be called "Disney's Carousel of Progressing Spin".

Anaheim Council Continues Disney Referendum Decision For 3 Weeks

The Anaheim City Council voted 3-2 a little while ago to postpone a vote on the Disney referendum until August 21.  Councilmembers Bob Hernandez, Lorri Galloway and Lucille Kring voted for the continuance, Mayor Curt Pringle and Councilman Harry Sidhu voted against it.