[dragonsky]

Monday, March 19, 2007
Anaheim resort ballot drive
Group seeks to limit changes to tourist area without voter approval.
By SERENA MARIA DANIELS and SUSHMA SUBRAMANIAN
The Orange County Register

ANAHEIM– In an attempt to send a message to the City Council, a coalition of businesses in the Disneyland resort area have taken steps to put an initiative on the February 2008 ballot that would require voter approval for any housing plans within the resort area.

Members of the just-formed Save Our Anaheim Resort – or SOAR, a coalition of resort-area business leaders that includes the Walt Disney World Co. – announced the initiative at a news conference today at the Doubletree Hotel.

This is the second attempt by Disneyland to send a message to the council that business leaders do not want residential development inside the 2.2-square-mile resort area that includes Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center.

Earlier this month, Disney filed a lawsuit against the city.

SunCal, a developer interested in building affordable-housing units in the resort area, is requesting a second council hearing for a rezoning amendment.

Councilwoman Lucille Kring was asked to step aside on the issue during the first vote because of a potential conflict of interest.

Now, there is a question of whether a conflict really existed, and she might end up breaking a 2-2 vote that has stalled the residential project.

In August, four council members asked the city staff to prepare paperwork for a zoning change so SunCal could propose a 1,500-home development, including 200 affordable units.

Affordable-housing advocates praised the plan. But business leaders said the proposal went against the vision to put hotels and tourist venues there.