Disney sues to stop Anaheim condos - The Hollywood Reporter 3/13/07

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Disney sues to stop Anaheim condos

The Hollywood Reporter
March 13, 2007

ANAHEIM -- The Happiest Place on Earth doesn't want any new neighbors.

The Walt Disney Co. has sued the city of Anaheim to stop the proposed construction of 1,500 condos, including several hundred low-income units, at the doorstep of Disneyland.

Housing advocates say the units are desperately needed to accommodate workers who are essential to the city's huge tourism industry but can't afford to live there. Many workers spend at least four hours a day commuting from outlying areas where rent is cheaper.

"We helped to build this resort, but now they're saying we can't live here," said Lori Condinus, a hotel switchboard operator who lives 60 miles away. "Disneyland is supposed to be the family friendly place, but they're not helping families make it."

Disneyland and other tourism-oriented businesses say that housing will drive away visitors from the park -- which pumps an estimated $3.6 billion into Southern California's economy each year -- and open the way for the return of the cheap motels, neon signs and scraggly landscaping that marked the area in the early days of Disneyland.

full article at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/...191fd98893b1f0