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.
Continue reading "OC Register Has It Wrong" »
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.
Continue reading "Property Rights Should Trump Local Government's Quest For Cash" »
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."
Continue reading "Do Anaheim Residents Want To Subsidize More Hotels?" »
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.
Continue reading "Lorri Galloway Responds To Critics" »