A housing plan for one Anaheim Resort spot may be gone now.
But in voting on the issue Tuesday night, City Council members made their stances known on the need for housing in the city overall.
SunCal’s plan for a residential complex, including affordable apartments, became a rallying point for low-cost housing advocates to call for more units, especially near jobs in the Disneyland area. Hundreds of people showed up to rally at previous meetings. But 11 people spoke Tuesday - just two in favor of housing.
Now, SunCal’s deal to buy the land is falling apart, and the council pulled the plug on its support.
Council members Lorri Galloway and Bob Hernandez stuck to their guns and voted against the repeal.
Galloway, a staunch affordable housing advocate, said she wanted to “remain true and consistent” with her support for housing, saying she has never believed that homes would destroy the tourist area. She believes the city should balance “economic development and housing development.”
Hernandez previously backed the project as a property-rights issue, saying the owner should be able to do with the land what he wants. Now that the property owner is seeking another buyer, Hernandez is saying that it’s about the need to increase housing overall in the city.
“This has never been about SunCal. It’s never even been about affordable housing. But it has been about housing. We continue to need housing in this community,” Hernandez said, adding that he worries about where children and grandchildren will live in the future.
Councilwoman Lucille Kring was the swing vote on the project, switching from backing the homes to opposing them.
Even though she voted for 100 percent residential zoning on the 26.7-acre plot, she now says she never supported a full housing project. Instead, Kring said she had worked toward a failed compromise, which would have meant 42 percent retail/commercial on the land and the rest housing.
“This city does need housing for all levels of income people,” Kring said. “I don’t believe that they belong in the resort, however.”
Mayor Curt Pringle and Councilman Harry Sidhu also kept their stances against homes in the resort.
Sidhu called for everyone to work together for a solution for finding places for affordable homes, especially in the “Happiest Place on Earth.” Not just Disneyland, he said, but Anaheim.
“These differences will be gone very shortly,” Sidhu said.
Pringle remained perturbed by what he called “overzealot affordable housing friends,” who he said are unfairly claiming Anaheim isn’t doing enough to create low-cost homes. The Orange County Business Council ranked Anaheim tops in workforce housing, he said.
“It’s a little hard for me to hug everybody just yet,” Pringle said.
- SunCal back for more
- Anti-Disney initiative is on
- Disney-led group protests SunCal’s move
- Council rejects SunCal, but will the developer be back?
- Should the council allow homes on a plot near Disney?
Anaheim City Council rescinds decision to allow housing in Resort District
The Anaheim City Council finally came to its senses, after economic changes forced out the developer and made their decision essentially moot anyway, and voted to rescind their earlier decision to allow luxury condos in the Anaheim Resort District. The