XPost: ucb.politics.progressive, chi.general, alt.hollywood   
   XPost: ca.politics   
   From: homosite@gladd.org   
      
   ANAHEIM – Some businesses along a one-block stretch of Harbor   
   Boulevard have raised serious concerns over Disneyland’s Eastern   
   Gateway Project, a massive proposal that would dramatically   
   change how visitors coming from the east get into the theme park.   
      
   With “Star Wars” land well under construction, Disney plans to   
   develop a 23-acre parcel behind several motels and restaurants   
   that line Harbor Boulevard. Plans include a seven-story parking   
   structure with 6,901 slots and a security checkpoint welcoming   
   those about to cross a 15-foot-high pedestrian bridge over   
   Harbor leading into Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.   
      
   To clear the way, Disney has spent more than $100 million to buy   
   property in the area, part of a $1 billion-plus push to create   
   “Star Wars” land and the gateway.   
      
   But this project, which Disney will present during a Planning   
   Commission meeting at City Hall at 5 p.m. Monday and hopes to   
   complete in 2019, has fast-food restaurants, hotels and other   
   businesses worried that it would choke off their business.   
      
   Now, the businesses’ customers and guests just cross Harbor to   
   get to the theme parks and can easily break away from the parks   
   for a meal in their restaurants before returning.   
      
   In Disney’s plans, the route could be more complex: Guests would   
   loop around behind the Harbor businesses to enter the pedestrian   
   bridge, going through security first. There would be no direct   
   access to the bridge from Harbor.   
      
   The current Harbor entrance to Disneyland isn’t slated to be   
   closed; Disney has said it will be kept open with a security   
   checkpoint for the immediate future. The businesses want   
   stronger assurance that an entrance will be there forever.   
      
   There are preliminary discussions about Disney allowing Harbor   
   businesses to punch pathways behind their properties to the   
   gateway so customers won’t have to walk as far to enter the   
   queue.   
      
   “It’s sort of like they are dumping their problems into our   
   backyard,” said Robert “Red” Harbin, a spokesman for the Harbor   
   Boulevard Merchants Coalition, a group of some of the local   
   business owners.   
      
   “It’s not our intention to delay the project,” added Harbin, who   
   said there are more than 25 affected businesses with, on any   
   given day, 10,000 hotel guests. “We’re just asking for   
   reasonable accommodations and to flesh out ideas that would be   
   good for the entire block. We want to work with Disney.”   
      
   In a sense, the business owners always have. Since 1955 when   
   Disneyland opened, businesses have clustered here, getting   
   parkgoers to stay in their motels and eat in their restaurants.   
      
   For several months, a Disney spokeswoman said, company officials   
   have been working with neighboring business owners.   
      
   “We have held a series of productive meetings with neighboring   
   business owners to listen to concerns and gather input,”   
   Disney’s Suzi Brown said. “We have responded to their feedback   
   and have been encouraged by the positive responses from many of   
   the group to work together to find creative solutions.”   
      
   Scott Frisbie, whose family owns the nearby McDonald’s, is   
   concerned that to connect to the new Disneyland gateway, the   
   restaurant would have to give up space for a special walkway.   
      
   “It’s an impractical idea,” said Frisbie, 57. “They are asking   
   us to create a walkway for people to walk across our property to   
   their (gateway) entrance.   
      
   “But we have a liability and responsibility once we have the   
   public on our property,” he said. “Not only that, but that would   
   require us to remove some of our parking stalls, and parking is   
   already scarce in this area.”   
      
   Paul Sanford, an asset manager for Wincome Management and   
   Development, which oversees the Anaheim Plaza Inn and Suites on   
   Disney Way, said Disney’s plans are still being developed and no   
   one should rush to conclusions.   
      
   “With change, it’s never easy,” Sanford said. “There’s always   
   concerns with change. I think Disney will come up with real   
   positive options. I have a lot of confidence. The good news is   
   they are listening and coming up with options.”   
      
   The Planning Commission is scheduled to make a decision Jan. 23.   
   Disney needs a permit for the construction of the pedestrian   
   bridge, the new security-screening area, signage and a   
   transportation hub. It also needs approval for the parking   
   structure. The City Council is expected to have the final   
   decision on at least the pedestrian bridge at some point.   
      
   The Eastern Gateway Project came out of the $1 billion-plus deal   
   Disney made with Anaheim last year. The park agreed to make the   
   major investment, which includes the 14-acre “Star Wars” land,   
   in exchange for the city agreeing not to tax gate admission at   
   the parks for up to 45 years.   
      
   The eastside project aims to do several things, including making   
   it easier for those coming in from I-5 to slide into the new   
   parking structure along Disney Way. Hotel shuttles and buses   
   would drop off guests on the east side of Harbor, at the   
   transportation hub, near the security checkpoint and pedestrian   
   bridge’s entrance.   
      
   Also, Disney is trying to spread out where people go through   
   metal detectors instead of having them clustered around the   
   esplanade between Disneyland and Disney California, like they   
   are now.   
      
   Visitors on foot coming from the south would take a 600-foot-   
   long pathway along Disney Way toward the bridge’s entrance.   
      
   The bridge would be built on the site of the Carousel Inn, which   
   Disney purchased for $32 million last year, and would take   
   guests to the esplanade, which holds the ticket booths for the   
   parks.   
      
   Contact the writer: 714-796-2443 or jpimentel@scng.com or follow   
   on Twitter @OCDisney   
      
   http://www.ocregister.com/articles/disney-738016-harbor-   
   businesses.html   
        
      
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