ANAHEIM : City Unveils Plan for Disneyland Area

City planners Tuesday unveiled new development guidelines for the “commercial recreation” area around Disneyland, which they hope will transform the cluttered, aging entertainment section into a “special place” where visitors feel welcome.

The new rules, which need approval by the City Council next month, would prohibit certain projects, like mini-malls and drive-through restaurants. In addition, a number of building materials, such as imitation wood, fake rocks and mirrored glass, which planners say do not provide the image the city wants, would also be banned.

But the hushed talk among local developers at the jam-packed morning meeting was that the Walt Disney Co.’s plans to expand in the city are part of the reason behind the study and a moratorium on building in that area.

While most developers support the study and the city’s plan to upgrade the area to a “world class” resort spot, they say the building freeze keeps prime land undeveloped and prices low.

The council extended the moratorium Tuesday for 90 days, which is slated to coincide with the study’s completion.

Disney Co. officials have repeatedly opposed new projects in the area and favored the building freeze, siding with the city’s intentions to complete the study of the area without further growth and changes.

“Our support for the moratorium isn’t related to our expansion plans as much as it’s related to our support for the city’s plans,” said Kerry Scott Hunne-well, special projects director for Walt Disney Co. “Some of the developments there are not up to the standards we would like to see. . . . What’s good for the area is good for Disneyland, and conversely.”

City Planner Lucy Yeager, who has managed the study, said that the city did not operate in isolation when it conducted the yearlong study, but that Disney officials contributed as equally as other interested parties.

She said that the new guidelines are offered to build an environment where all tenants complement one another and that city building codes will overrule any disputes. The ultimate goal is that visitors to the area “know they have arrived in a very special place,” she said.

The 1,040-acre plot, bound roughly by the Santa Ana Freeway, Orangewood Avenue, Ball Road and Walnut Street, contains the amusement park, the Anaheim Convention Center and dozens of other entertainment facilities.

A second phase of the study will look at infrastructure improvements--particularly transportation upgrades to better handle traffic in the area--and preliminary results should be proposed by the end of summer, planners said.

Planners don’t yet know if the moratorium will need to be extended so the study’s second phase can be completed.