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ANAHEIM, Calif. (April 12, 2024) — Anaheim’s City Council is set to review and vote on the DisneylandForward proposal on Tuesday, April 16, at its regularly scheduled meeting starting at 5 p.m.
The meeting takes place at Anaheim City Hall and will be broadcast on the city’s website, YouTube channel and Anaheim TV for subscribers to Spectrum cable.
You can see a meeting agenda and related information here.
You can see an overview of the proposal and more at Anaheim.net/DisneylandForward.
The meeting is the first expected Council vote on DisneylandForward after public workshops in October, January and February, a Planning Commission hearing with approval in March, an April 10 community informational open house and three years of information sharing.
As with any item before the Council, DisneylandForward could be approved, denied or delayed for further consideration later.
If DisneylandForward were to see approval on Tuesday, a second vote would be required at the Council’s next meeting on May 7. If approved at that time, the proposal would require another 30 days for changes to take effect.
Tuesday’s meeting is expected to see a large number of attendees and public comments.
For planning purposes, the item may come before the Council somewhere around 6 or 7 p.m., with the potential for three hours or more of public comment before the Council itself begins to discuss the item.
DisneylandForward is a multidecade proposal to update where types of development can go and how they mix together on space Disney already owns or operates around its Anaheim theme parks.
The proposal calls for allowing theme park attractions alongside hotels on the west side of Disneyland Drive and theme park attractions alongside new shopping, dining and entertainment to the southeast on what is today the Toy Story Parking Area at Katella Avenue and Harbor Boulevard.
The proposal also calls for expanded parking east and new parking northeast of the theme parks and potential foot bridges across Harbor Boulevard and Disneyland Drive.
The proposal does not request any new acreage, square footage or hotel rooms to be developed. Instead, it would shift already approved development amounts across land Disney now operates on.
The proposed zoning changes could allow for the building of new theme park attractions and lands in Anaheim.
Disney has not shared any specific development plans at this stage but has pointed to attractions at parks around the world as general examples, including a potential land based on the “Avatar” films.
Anaheim is considering an updated mix of uses, rather than a specific new land, attraction or other use.
If new zoning is adopted, individual projects would still undergo city planning review.
As part of a proposed development agreement, Disney would commit to investing a minimum of $1.9 billion in theme park, lodging, entertainment, shopping and dining within 10 years of any approval.
The proposal also includes a development agreement between the city and Disney.
The proposed development agreement calls for Disney to provide:
- $30 million for affordable housing in Anaheim within five years of approval
- $10 million: for sewer improvements along Katella Avenue
- $8 million for Anaheim parks within first year of any approval.
DisneylandForward also includes a proposal for Disney to pay $39.6 million to take on responsibility for Magic Way, a road of 1,150 feet in length from Disneyland Drive to Walnut Street, and for entry drives into Disney parking at Hotel Way and at Clementine Street.
The city is considering transferring responsibility for Magic Way to Disney because the road overwhelmingly serves the Disneyland Hotel, Disney employee parking and the south end of the Pixar Pals Parking Structure.
The city is evaluating DisneylandForward because of what visitors mean to our city. Visitors account for more than half the revenue we use to serve our residents with police, fire, libraries, community services and to pay down city debt.
Much of the proposal would take surface parking lots that generate little revenue for city services and turn them into theme park attractions, hotels and entertainment that bring expanded funding for services for our residents.
Depending on what’s built, Anaheim is projected to see $15 million to $244 million in additional yearly revenue at complete buildout of what would be allowed under DisneylandForward.
We’re looking at DisneylandForward with an eye toward making sure any proposal or future development is a good neighbor for nearby residents and businesses with significant distance, noise and other protections required with any approval.
You can learn more at Anaheim.net/DisneylandForward.
You can attend Tuesday’s City Council meeting at Anaheim City Hall, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., at 5 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.
You can also share comments via email at publiccomment@anaheim.net.
There are several ways to watch the meeting:
- Anaheim TV: a television broadcast on channel 3 for Spectrum Cable subscribers in our city.
- Anaheim.net/TV: a city webpage that plays our Anaheim TV broadcast in high-definition and can be streamed to compatible TVs and can be found here. Anaheim.net/TV also includes the option of seeing both English and Spanish subtitles.
- @AnaheimMeetings: a dedicated YouTube channel for City Council meetings that can be found here.
