In what will probably be a test of political might and financial resources, housing advocates will do battle with Disneyland and tourist leaders next summer in an election that could change the once cozy relationship between the entertainment giant and the city that Walt Disney helped define.
The Anaheim City Council decided late Tuesday to place a Disney-backed referendum on the June ballot asking voters to decide the fate of a housing project in the town's polished Resort District.
The vote will mark a rare -- and no doubt, expensive -- showdown between city leaders and Anaheim's best-known corporate citizen. Disney wants voters to overturn the council's decision to permit as many 1,500 homes to be built near land where it eventually plans to open a third amusement park. Disney hopes to maintain the area for tourist-friendly uses such as hotels and shops.
The two sides could square off two more times. A Disney-backed coalition turned in more than 30,000 signatures Wednesday for a ballot initiative that would give voters the opportunity to block any future housing project in the Resort District, a move that would essentially give Disney an added layer of protection. A developer-backed measure that would give voters zoning control over Disney's planned third theme park also appears to be headed for the June ballot.
"Disney isn't picking up and moving anywhere," said Mark P. Petracca, a political science professor at UC Irvine. "Disney is stuck. They aren't like an automobile manufacturer that can leave town. Disneyland's not Disneyland if it's in Sacramento. Disneyland is associated with Southern California and Anaheim."
But Petracca admits that he has never seen such a nasty public argument between Anaheim and its largest employer.
One resident at Tuesday's council meeting even called the dispute "a civil war."
The yearlong zoning dispute over a 26-acre parcel across the street from Disney's planned third theme park made headlines in the New York Times and International Herald-Tribune and provided spoof material for "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central. Since Disney and tourist officials began collecting signatures for its initiative and referendum, Anaheim residents have been inundated with mailers and television and radio spots from both sides.
