Environmental

Review

The DisneylandForward Project has Reached a Major Milestone with the City’s release of the Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The Final SEIR contains responses to written and oral comments regarding the Draft SEIR made during the public comment period between September 14, 2023 and October 30, 2023, contains corrections, additions and clarifications to the Draft SEIR, and contains the Mitigation Monitoring Program for the Project. For the full report, please go to: anaheim.net/876/Environmental-Documents.

DisneylandForward: A Smart Planning Approach Designed to Enable Investment for Decades to Come

DisneylandForward is a blueprint to guide development and growth over the next 40 years. As Disney invests, key improvements will be required to address the Resort's growth and minimize impacts.

Design to Minimize Potential Project Impacts

Locate majority of new development on existing surface parking lots.
Create setbacks and landscape buffers from adjacent neighbors.
Enhance architectural design program to ensure all visible theme park attractions and buildings are designed with 360-degree architecture.
Permit the Eastern Parking Structure and Multimodal Transportation Center to be built on Disney’s east side surface parking lots, balancing future traffic flows between the west and east sides of the Resort and allowing for a new east side hub for Anaheim Regional Transportation (ART) buses, hotel shuttles, guest parking shuttles, cast member parking shuttles, bicycle parking and amenities, rideshare apps drop-off and pick-up, and future transit connectors.
Invest in pedestrian bridges to improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety.
Promote bicycle travel through the installation of dedicated bike paths and bicycle amenities throughout the Resort.

Employ Latest Technologies and Measures to Reduce and/or Avoid Impacts

Implement measures to reduce air emissions and waste, as well as minimize water and energy usage.
Continue and enhance Disney’s robust Transportation Demand Management Program to reduce the vehicle trips of our cast members, guests, and contractors.
Employ best-in-class measures to reduce, sort and recycle solid waste generated at the Resort with consistent diversion of 30 million pounds of material from landfills annually.

Build Upon Decades of Smart Planning, Infrastructure Investments and Regulations to Create an Improved Anaheim Resort Area

Build upon the City’s 1990s transportation plan for the Resort through decades of continued investment in transportation, parking, and roadway infrastructure improvements.
Commit to more enhanced, detailed, and stringent design and development standards.
Comply with comprehensive regulations regarding height, setbacks, screening, noise management and monitoring to protect our adjacent neighbors.

SCOPE OF DRAFT Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (SEIR)

Based on the Initial Study prepared by the City and a public scoping meeting held in the fall of 2021, the DisneylandForward Draft SEIR has analyzed 16 environmental topic areas. The result is a comprehensive analysis that supplies detailed regulations, requirements, and mitigation measures that, if approved, will guide the growth and development of Disneyland Resort for the next several decades.

The 16 study areas include:

Aesthetics
Air Quality
Biological Resources
Cultural Resources
Energy
Geology and Soils

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Hazards and Hazardous Materials
Hydrology and Water Quality
Land Use and Planning
Noise

Population and Housing

Public Services
Transportation
Tribal Cultural Resources
Utilities and Service Systems

Findings:

After studying the 16 environmental topic areas, the Draft SEIR concludes there are 12 areas, that with mitigation, will result in less than significant impacts, and four areas that will result in significant and unavoidable impacts after implementation of comprehensive mitigation measures – short-term construction noise, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and cultural resources.

Context:

Significant unavoidable impacts for construction noise, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions are typical for any project of this size and require that the project put in place a series of detailed mitigation measures to minimize those impacts when development occurs. To learn more about the mitigation measures, you can download a copy of the report here: www.anaheim.net/876/Environmental-Documents

The cultural resources significant unavoidable impact is due to the fact that Disneyland Park is nearly 70 years old as well as its importance in the theme park industry and its relationship to an important person in history – Walt Disney. The Draft SEIR states: “There have been continuous changes to the park that started upon its opening.” It also acknowledges Disney’s stewardship of Disneyland: “In enacting previous changes to the park, Disney has balanced the need for improvements with the goal of maintaining those features and attractions that are significant to visitors and that reflect the original character, history, and intent of Disneyland.” Mitigation measures have been required to ensure that the history would be preserved, photographed, and recorded by a historian and meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Historic Preservation Professional Standards. To learn more about the mitigation measures, you can download a copy of the report here: www.anaheim.net/876/Environmental-Documents

Public Review & Approval Timeline

The City of Anaheim will be conducting public hearings related to the DisneylandForward project and the City will accept public comments as part of the deliberative process. To learn more about the City's process, click here.

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