TimesOC: Stadium deal illegal, state says, casting doubt on Angel’s O.C. future
Good morning and welcome to the TimesOC newsletter.
It’s Friday, Dec. 10. I’m Ben Brazil, bringing you the latest roundup of Orange County news and events.
Could the Angels leave Anaheim in eight years?
There’s potential for an Angel-less Anaheim after California’s housing agency declared illegal an Angel Stadium deal that would have kept the team here until at least 2050.
The city came to the controversial agreement last year to sell 150 acres and Angel Stadium to team owner Arte Moreno’s company SRB Management for $150 million in cash. The deal also includes about $170 million of “community benefits credits” for 466 affordable housing units and a seven-acre park.
The state agency said Anaheim violated the Surplus Land Act by not classifying the land as surplus, not making the land available to other developers and not letting the agency know about the availability of the land and negotiations with Moreno.
As reported by Bill Shaikin this week, under the act, public land has to first be made available to affordable housing developers.
If the city moves forward with the deal, Shaikin wrote, Anaheim could be fined $96 million. The state agency may also refer the issue to state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, who could prevent the sale by seeking an injunction. The city could also choose to not make the land available to affordable housing developers but could modify the current deal by reserving 80% of the land for housing and 40% of those units as affordable, the California Department of Housing and Community Development said.
It isn’t yet clear what the city will do. Anaheim city spokesman Mike Lyster said that there are “many potential paths forward” for the city.
Councilman Jose Moreno, who’s been critical of the stadium deal, is hoping to restart the whole process.
“Why not just start from scratch and do a much more transparent and open process?” City Councilman Jose Moreno said. “It gives us the chance to make a better deal for the people of Anaheim.”
Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu said in a statement that the city remains “committed to our stadium plan and are confident we’ll find the right path forward.” Sidhu also expressed frustration that the affordable housing included in the deal is not sufficient considering it is the “single largest expansion of affordability Anaheim has ever seen.”
MORE NEWS
You may have a harder time finding quality street food in Anaheim as the city has teamed up with the Orange County Health Care Agency in a crackdown on unpermitted food vendors. My colleague Gabriel San Román wrote this week about the first of its kind program in the county. Under the new program, which will be reevaluated at the end of the year, street vendors could face confiscations. “Unpermitted food operations ... operate outside of the food safety laws and regulations,” said Darwin Cheng, assistant director of the Orange County Health Care Agency’s environmental health division. “This poses a public health concern and food safety risk to the community.”
With rising sea levels potentially wreaking havoc on California coastlines in the decades ahead, San Clemente officials this week approved a Coastal Resiliency Plan to address shoreline erosion, coastal flooding and other consequences of potential rising sea levels. The damaging impact of sea level rise became all too real to the city in September when train tracks that carry Metrolink commuters and Amtrak travelers along the coast had to be temporarily shut down because large waves caused the ground to become unstable.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department fired a deputy in 2019 after he admitted to throwing away a gram of white powder, a methamphetamine pipe, a replica gun and several hypodermic syringes rather than booking them into evidence. Now the department has been ordered by an arbitrator to reinstate the deputy. He was also accused of booking evidence late in 26 other cases. “It was clear the arbitrator agreed with our assessment that the misconduct was extremely serious,” said Sheriff’s spokeswoman Carrie Braun. “However, she inexplicably ordered reinstatement. While we respect the due process rights of employees, we strongly disagree with the arbitrator’s award.”
Keep an eye out for any suspicious activities in your neighborhoods as several burglaries in Newport Beach occurred over the last few weeks. Most recently, unknown suspects shattered a first-floor window while residents were still in the home. Police are asking residents to report any suspicious activity to help find the culprits. My colleague Lilly Nguyen has the story.
Disneyland workers have not launched a major strike since 1984, but they came closer than usual in the last few weeks. Last month, Disney’s California Adventure workers voted to ratify a contract that raised wages to a minimum of $18.50 an hour by 2023, but Disneyland Park workers rejected it. Union leaders met with Disney reps and the company agreed to present another offer before the end of the year. Last weekend, Disneyland averted a strike when the holdout unions voted in favor of the contract.
LIFE AND LEISURE
It’s time to get into the holiday spirit with the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts’ winter concert “Sounds of the Season: Together Again.” The performance, which runs through Saturday, will feature the HBAPA Orchestra playing holiday favorites along with special performances by the APA Musical Theatre department, MMET department, Surf City Singers and the Huntington Beach High band and color guard. The event marks a comeback for the academy, which had to host virtual events last winter due to the pandemic.
Following two years of pandemic isolation, Santa Ana is inviting people outside for the holiday season with the first-ever Winter Village. For a month, residents will be able to skate on an outdoor ice rink, take a ride on a trackless train or meet a man dressed like Santa Claus. “The Winter Village will provide a fun, healthy outdoor activity that our community greatly deserves after the past two years,” said Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento.
The Cannery Village area of Newport Beach flourishes with local artists. With several studios and galleries next to each other, it’s become a kind of destination. Wendy Johnson, who runs the “South of France” studio, thinks it’s comparable to the artsy streets in New York. “We should call it the Colony,” she said to reporter Matt Szabo.
SPORTS
Costa Mesa officials this week moved forward with a plan to spend more than $2 million to improve the Jack Hammett Sports Complex, which hosts youth sports and the L.A. Chargers summer training camp. However, some residents took issue with the cost of the parking upgrades, though the Chargers are footing the bill.
A mother is facing possible jail time after her daughter punched another girl during a youth basketball game in Garden Grove last month. Latira Shonty Hunt was charged by the Orange County district attorney’s office after video of the incident went viral. The video appears to show Hunt’s daughter punching another girl after a woman is heard yelling “You better hit her for that.”
Stay in Touch
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