Yesterday evening at the Anaheim City Hall in Southern California, the Anaheim City Planning Commission held a public workshop concerning the DisneylandForward project that would potentially see the rezoning of Disney-owned property including the expansion of possible theme park space at Disneyland Resort. Below is my recap of the evening’s events.
When I arrived at the DisneylandForward meeting, I was handed a printout of the Fact Sheet that is available for download in PDF form at the Anaheim city website. While there isn’t a tremendous amount of new information in this sheet, it does include some interesting charts and a new piece of concept art showcasing a potential new parking structure east of Harbor Boulevard. After an unrelated public hearing, the DisneylandForward workshop began with a presentation on the Environmental Impact Review. A background was given on the history of the Disneyland Resort and the Anaheim Resort area that surrounds it and the already-announced proposed plan for the future. In addition to the Disney-owned land that would be rezoned as theme-park space, Disney has proposed to make a number of other improvements to streets in the surrounding area, including new traffic lights, changes to lane configurations, and bike paths. Disney has also proposed closing off public automobile traffic to Magic Way, which runs from Walnut Street to Disneyland Drive south of the Mickey & Friends parking structure. The project would also add police and fire substations, while Disney would cost-share sewer improvements along Katella Avenue to the south of the resort. During construction, regional air quality and greenhouse gas emissions would be unavoidably affected, though mitigation methods have been identified.
Next came time for Disneyland Resort representatives to give their own presentation on the project, which began with another brief history of the resort. For the expansion of theme-park space, Disneyland plans to incorporate new attractions based on recent Disney movies and Disney+ content, though the specifics of those attractions have yet to be determined. The company is not seeking any public funding or additional square footage. Disneyland Resort spokespeople also talked about the jobs, tax revenue, and economic output that the resort brings to Anaheim on a yearly basis. They also went into what they called the “virtuous cycle of investment,” which sees more firefighters, police officers, and park / road improvements in the community due to Disney’s presence there. Disney representatives also pointed out how the company has been hosting community events to gauge interest, feedback, and support of the project among the resort’s neighbors.
The final third of the meeting was designated for public comments, which was probably the most interesting part of the meeting. We heard from members of the immediate Anaheim Resort community, such as the owner of the Castle Inn and Suites, which was built along Harbor Boulevard in 1989, who gave his support to the project. He said Disney has been very forthcoming in addressing any concerns he’s had about the changes. Most of the first half of the comments were very positive about DisneylandForward, but then we started hearing some negatives. Some of the major issues brought up by members of the community include increased noise and traffic from the resort, speeding along Katella Avenue and Walnut Street, pay rates, and the lack of affordable housing for Disneyland Resort Cast Members who live in the area. “Anaheim was here decades before Disney came around,” said one woman. “We are not a company town. If Disneyland truly intended to give back to the residents, they would have already done it.” A couple of commenters even went so far as to accuse Commissioners of having received money from The Walt Disney Company during their campaigns, thereby causing a conflict of interest in their votes on the DisneylandForward project. I would say the meeting ended with the majority of commenters in favor of the proposal, though the dissenters were very vocal in their opposition. Either way, it was quite interesting to hear first-hand what the Anaheim community thinks of Disney as a company and DisneylandForward as the future of this Southern California city.
DisneylandForward will be represented at Anaheim’s Fall Festival and Halloween Parade on Saturday, October 28th. For additional information and to voice opinions on the project, be sure to visit the official DisneylandForward website.