Maintaining its aggressive posture, Disney officials filed suit Monday against the city of Anaheim as part of the entertainment giant's continuing efforts to thwart a residential development in the resort district.
The suit comes as the Anaheim City Council ponders whether to reopen debate on a controversial proposal to build 1,500 condominiums and apartments, including 225 units for lower-income residents, near Disney's amusement parks. The project was killed this month on a split council vote.
Disney says its action is the first time it has sued the city where Disneyland was born more than 50 years ago. The city and Disney have historically enjoyed a close-knit, fight-free relationship.
Anaheim is also locked in a legal fight with one of the city's other icons, the Angels, over the team's name.
Disney's legal challenge signals a new, hardened approach to maintaining the tourist-friendly environment of the resort district. Disney has spent years trying to buff up the resort area, going back to the days when Walt Disney expressed revulsion at the cheap motels and tacky retail outlets that had taken root outside the gates to Disneyland.
In addition to Disneyland and California Adventure, the resort area now includes Downtown Disney, new hotels and more upscale restaurants.
Disney officials say the 8,000 or so people who would be living in the proposed units would be out of place in a district designed for round-the-clock tourist-friendly uses. Disneyland President Ed Grier said allowing the project would set a "dangerous precedent." Disney prefers that the 26-acre parcel be developed as an upscale hotel-condominium project.
Housing advocates and some council members favored the apartment-condo proposal's inclusion of lower-cost units because it would replace a mobile home park and be convenient for entertainment workers making modest wages.
In its lawsuit, Disney demands that the city nullify the environmental analysis it approved for the large residential project, next to an area where Disney may build a third theme park.
"This lawsuit speaks to how important we view this Anaheim resort area and that we make sure the vision sticks," said Disneyland spokesman Rob Doughty.
Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle said he was not surprised Disney officials decided to challenge the residential project on legal grounds.
