David DiRienzo, whose company is trying to develop a 449-unit residential project on the extreme edge of the resort district in the teeth of Disney Corporation opposition, published this excellent opinion article in today's OC Register:
Zoning By Popular Vote Is The Wrong Answer
Popular referendum is wrong answer for zoning and land-use planning.There has been much discussion regarding the Anaheim Resort Area Specific Plan, which does not allow for residential development. Disney wants to ensure that the plan is never changed. The Anaheim City Council disagrees and has proposed allowing some residential as well as commercial development.
In response, Disney is seeking to qualify an initiative and referendum that would require voter approval before the plan could be modified.
The established method in California is that complex planning, zoning and land-use matters are studied by city staff, then the planning commission, which then makes recommendations to the City Council. The City Council can accept, reject or modify. The planning staff undertakes review of environmental, planning and policy issues.
If Disney gets its way and its initiative and referendum pass, neither the planning commission nor the City Council – our elected officials – would be authorized to make any changes to the area plan. Make no mistake, this ballot initiative and referendum are bad ideas.
Requiring that only voters can change the area plan would give Disney or another special interest the opportunity to spend untold sums to sway the election.
It is easy to demonstrate that Disney's plan to block all housing developments in the resort area is not in the public's best interest. A perfect example is an 11.5 acre property formerly known as Travelers World RV Park. This property, which my company co-owns in a partnership, is now before the planning commission as a mixed-use commercial and residential development known as Parc Anaheim.
This property is located east of Disneyland. A single-family residential tract and an elementary school campus are located on adjacent parcels. Parc Anaheim is a perfect place to develop a balance of housing types for families, singles and others.
Disney has argued that residential development should be banned because hotels generate tax revenue for the city.
However, according to leading hospitality advisers PKF Consulting, given Parc Anaheim's location on the other side of the freeway, it is unlikely that any hotel property would be developed there in the next 20 years.
Given market conditions and in light of current housing demands, there is no question that Parc Anaheim's residential and commercial development is the best use for this land.
Questions over whether the area plan should be amended are enormously complex. These fiscal, planning, environmental and lifestyle questions should be studied by the planning commission, its staff and the City Council after receiving input from all sides. Of course, Disney should be able to contribute to the process, but it should not be able to control or dictate outcomes that have traditionally been decided by our elected officials.
Should Disney's ballot measure and referendum pass, it will be impossible to fully brief the electorate on intricate zoning questions. When 30-page reports are needed to understand a complex issue, 30-second sound bites just won't do. These issues are too important to be trivialized by the political spin doctors hired to sway voters. The ballot initiative and referendum are a bad idea.
