Protect Anaheim Blog

OC Register Has It Wrong

Today's OC Register's editorial on the Anaheim Resort District fight boils down to "a pox on both your houses," with an extra-heavy helping of pox tossed at SunCal.

But the Register seems to have bought into the Resort District mythology created by the myth-makers at Disney, and the editorial paints an inaccurate picture.

For example:

"Disney made good on its promise to build a second theme park, California Adventure, along with Downtown Disney and the Grand Californian Hotel."

But Disney didn't promise Anaheim city government and affected property owners California Adventure. Disney promised the far-more ambitious WestCOT.

Property Rights Should Trump Local Government's Quest For Cash

One of California's leading Republican commentators, Jon Fleischman, wrote a solid criticism today of what the Disney Corporation's new "economic study" of the Anaheim Resort District says about how Disney and its allies view property rights:

In America (and in Anaheim) Property Rights Should Trump Local Government's Quest For Cash

I know that everyone here at the Red County/OC Blog is probably tired of hashing and rehashing the politics and antics going on inside of Anaheim these days, but like moths to the flame, bloggers here are drawn to controversy.

This morning the Register is reporting that study paid for by SOAR (Disney) shows that a hotel being built on the parcel of land near Disneyland that SunCal would like to make into residential units would produce more revenue for city government.

Guess what?  If you are a homeowner in Anaheim, there are uses for your land that are more economically beneficial for government than your house, or condominium.

The good news for you is that it is YOUR house, not the government's.

We had all buckle in for a scary movie if local governments start restricting reasonable use property by those who own it because the city isn't getting a big enough cash take from the chosen use of the owner.

Not Even Close Enough For Government Work

Throughout the spring, as they gathered signatures for for the Disney/SOAR initiative and subsequently for the Disney/SOAR referendum, Disney circulators invariably told voters the Anaheim Resort District was "just 5% percent of Anaheim but generated 50% of city revenue" and that development of SunCal's Platinum Pointe would destroy that (in addition to bringing in icky poor people, drugs, prostitution, frogs, locusts and boils, etc). It's a statistic that's been bruited about for months as gospel.

Sarah Tully has a story in today's OC Register about a memo prepared by City of Anaheim Budget Manager Blaze Bruney, which shows the scare statistic isn't true. It isn't even close enough for government work.

You can read Sarah's story here, and you can read the actual report from Bruney here.

Do Anaheim Residents Want To Subsidize More Hotels?

Dave McKibben of the Los Angeles Times wrote a valuable article on Tuesday about the market for luxury hotels in the Anaheim Resort District, focusing on a proposed residential development within the resort district: the site of a closed Toys 'R' Us on Harbor between Orangewood and Chapman.

McKibben quotes Derek Baak, the developer of the project:

"If the city is waiting for a luxury hotel-condo project on that site, who knows how long the land will sit there vacant?" he said. "You just can't build a hotel now without some kind of subsidy." With more condos added in his new plan, "the condos subsidize the hotel."

Dave McKibben of the Los Angeles Times wrote a valuable article on Tuesday about the market for luxury hotels in the Anaheim Resort District, focusing on a proposed residential development within the resort district: the site of a closed Toys 'R' Us on Harbor between Orangewood and Chapman.

McKibben quotes Derek Baak, the developer of the project:

"If the city is waiting for a luxury hotel-condo project on that site, who knows how long the land will sit there vacant?" he said. "You just can't build a hotel now without some kind of subsidy." With more condos added in his new plan, "the condos subsidize the hotel."

Lorri Galloway Responds To Critics

The Orange County Register published this column today by Anaheim Councilwoman Lorri Galloway:

Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle has proposed what he calls a compromise between Disney and a developer, to allow some residential units to be built in at least part of the Resort Area, but keep the front of this property for hotels and commercial uses only ["A compromise for the Resort Area,"  The Orange Grove, April 11]. I have a different proposal.