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ANAHEIM, Calif. (Feb. 4, 2022) — Anaheim has responded to state housing regulators that the city’s proposed sale of the Angel Stadium of Anaheim site is not subject to California’s Surplus Land Act and that the application of the law to the sale is contrary to a shared goal of expanding affordable housing.
“We have always been aware of laws that govern the sale of public land, including the Surplus Land Act,” Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu said. “We respectfully disagree with any suggestion otherwise. We cannot see how a stadium site used for Major League Baseball, of all things, could ever be seen as surplus. While we disagree on the Surplus Land Act, we share a goal of seeing more affordable housing in our city and look forward to finding a reasonable path forward.”
The Surplus Land Act, a 1968 state law updated in 2020 and covering the disposal of unnecessary government land, should not apply to the stadium sale for at least four key reasons, according to a Feb. 4 city response letter:
- Angel Stadium of Anaheim, used for Major League Baseball as part of the city’s visitor, sports and entertainment economy, is not surplus land subject to the Surplus Land Act. The stadium supports Anaheim’s economy and generates revenue for public safety and community services, while the plan for the future of the site retains Angels Baseball in Anaheim.
- The stadium sale was approved for economic opportunity allowed for and encouraged under part of California law known as section 52201, a legal alternative to the Surplus Land Act that allows local governments to sell property for development and economic benefit in the interest of those they serve.
- Even if the Surplus Land Act did apply, the city’s exclusive negotiations with Angels Baseball prior to Sept. 30, 2019, allows for an exemption under the act as previously recognized by the state. The city and the Angels organization were exclusively in discussions about the future of baseball and the stadium site starting in 2019, with an existing lease in effect through as far as 2038, making any discussions about the future of the site exclusive to the two sides.
- While the Surplus Land Act should not apply to the stadium site, Anaheim is pursuing what would be the city’s largest single expansion of affordable housing on the site out of a shared goal of expanding affordable housing.
While disagreeing that the Surplus Land Act applies to the sale of the stadium site, Anaheim nonetheless seeks to work with state partners to find a path forward that advances affordable housing and remains open to continued talks.
You can read the city’s response letter here.
You can see prior communications on the Surplus Land Act issue and more about the city’s plan for the stadium site at Anaheim.net/BigA.
