Anaheim Ca Development And Redevelopment

Wires and poles used to clog Anaheim's skyline. They ran alongside nearly every major street--the aesthetic price paid for modern-day technology. But 10 years ago, the City Council decided it was time to take back the skyline. Council members saw the clean, uncluttered look of South County cities, born in the 1960s and '70s with policies that placed all utility lines underground. The Anaheim council voted for a 40-year program that would bury all the lines.

Raising the first concerns about a third Walt Disney Co. theme park in Anaheim, scheduled to open in 2003, local agencies are questioning the project's impacts on traffic, sewage, flooding and smog. Although the agencies support expansion, they also disagree with Disney's premise that extensive improvements already made to Anaheim's streets, sewers and drainage systems are all that's needed for the project.

A carpenter was hospitalized Wednesday after an accident at the same construction site, the Grand Californian Hotel, where two workers were seriously injured eight days earlier. Billy Guzman, 57, of Las Vegas was measuring the area when he was pinned between two motorized lifts. He was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center and listed in good condition. Less than two weeks ago, two workers suffered broken bones when their scaffolding collapsed, dropping them about 25 feet onto a roof.

Backers of the proposed indoor sports center Gotcha Glacier have asked the city for more time to secure financing and begin building the $130-million structure on the parking lot of Edison International Field, Anaheim officials say. Gotcha Glacier LLC is requesting a three-month extension on its agreement with the city, said Elisa Stipkovich, Anaheim's redevelopment director. The latest extension, which the City Council is expected to approve Aug. 22, would cost Glacier $100,000.

Despite repeated delays, Gotcha Glacier backers say that the proposed $130-million indoor sports center is still on track and that groundbreaking should begin "within the next few months." "We are just finalizing a few minor details prior to construction," said Brad Kinney, chief executive of Glacier of Anaheim LLC. "Our [building] permits are almost ready to pull." "Almost" has become a key word for Glacier backers, whose plans have been stalled by design and financing snags.

Despite early and dire predictions by some Anaheim residents that a $1.4-billion Disneyland expansion would trigger a nightmare of traffic, noise, crowded schools and crime, city officials insist that a decade's worth of planning and upgrading has eliminated the possibility of such havoc.

The Walt Disney Co., aiming to create the premier family resort in the West, disclosed plans Friday to build a third theme park complex in Anaheim as part of its massive Disneyland expansion. Company officials said the new complex could include a water park and an amusement park that would have versions of popular rides from Disney venues in Paris, Tokyo and Florida.