Sunday, March 25, 2007

Disney Foes Consider Own Ballot Initiatives

Residents of Anaheim may end up with several initiatives to vote on. While Disney has started a campaign to include in the ballot an initiatives to stop any housing development in the resort area of Anaheim, its opponents are mulling over having their own initiatives in the ballot.

I'm beginning to think of the scenario of what would happen if (i) Disney wins and manages to stop the housing development, or (ii) Disney loses and the housing development goes on.

I think with (i), we might get to see plans for the 3rd Gate at the Disneyland Resort. With (ii), I have a feeling that they might rethink their plan and may even scale back what they have planned currently. This obviously is a no-brainer, but I wonder how many people have actually thought this thing through? I know this is all highly speculative, but the consequences of this action can have a very long-lasting impact on that region. The way this has been handled appears as if things are just being made up as they go along.

The thing that I want to know is, if the housing development does NOT include plans to set aside a portion as affordable housing, would this have gotten as much support from the Anaheim city council? I'm guessing it would not. So in essense, there is a need to preserve the resort area if it weren't for the availablity of affordable housing. Now, how much impact can 225 affordable housing make considering the number of people who actually work in that area (and not just Disney cast members, I might add)?

If the whole 1,500 units are designated as affordable housing, I'd say that would make a major dent in the housing problem and probably worth fighting for. But 225 AND alienating your biggest tax revenue generator? It sounds like the developer is using the affordable housing as the bait or even a token to get support for building luxury apartments that would never have been approved by themselves. So the issue here is then, is 225 units of affordable housing worth this fight?

Zz.

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