Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 17, 1994 TAG: 9403180054
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
From: Neighbors of Walt Disney World
WE'VE been in your shoes before - a community about to be metamorphosed into a tourist destination by the Walt Disney Co. It can transform your area into something quite different and, believe it or not, potentially wonderful, as if pixie dust had fallen from the sky.
But it won't be easy. Already, your government leaders are bitterly divided over tax incentives for the entertainment giant. They shouldn't lose sight, though, of the bigger picture.
If you could look at International Drive in Orlando, you'd see at one end what some might call ``urban blight'' and at the other the eye-pleasing result of good planning. We call it ``Beauty and the Beast.''
In Central Florida, Disney has become a major employer, a large source of tax dollars, a generous contributor to charitable and civic efforts, and a standard-setter for high-quality development.
It's also true, though, that many of the jobs Disney creates are at the low end of the wage scale, and the company's theme parks are magnets for other tourist-related activities, not all of which enhance the landscape. Plenty of people will be looking to turn a fast buck. You'll meet them soon enough.
That's why, if Disney is to become your new neighbor, you should start planning now. Take a look at your housing stock. Determine what the demands will be on your roads and bridges, your sewer, water and electric systems. And take stock of your zoning laws - for you should decide which areas might best be suited to the inevitable ancillary development.
Quite frankly, that's what will determine the future look and feel of your region. It will be your call. You and your elected officials will make those decisions, not Disney. If it goes badly, those decision-makers will be the ones to blame. But, if you set a standard and live with it, there is the potential for a great success.
Perhaps you should consider creating a special tourism district near the Disney park - allowing you to control such things as the type of development and the height of billboards. You might want to create a special taxing district, in which property owners would be required to finance transportation improvements to support the inevitable influx of business establishments and their clientele. Make sure that proposals are publicly aired - for that's the easiest way to forge a consensus.
Maintaining an orderly and pleasing atmosphere in a boom town takes real commitment. And in the early Disney years, our community failed to envision, then withstand, the pressures of the runaway commercialization that invariably follows such massive development. Learn from some of our mistakes.
And make sure it's a regional effort. Disney didn't affect just Orlando when it arrived. It has had - and continues to have - a dramatic effect on development in all of Central Florida.
What it takes is leaders who will examine the community's desires for the future, determine what role you want Disney to play in that future, then to act in concert to assure that the vision becomes a reality.
With its family-oriented atmosphere and generous levels of charitable giving, few new neighbors are as pleasant as the Walt Disney Co. Just enter the relationship with your eyes open. And don't be shy. Take control of your own destiny.
You're not entering into a short-term deal. Managing your regional growth will require a sustained effort. And, though the Orlando area may be older and wiser in these matters, it is by no means absolved of that responsibility. Central Florida, too, needs to continue holding its leaders accountable for the quality of the environment - for many decades to come.
This is adapted from an editorial in The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel.
by CNB