Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 6, 1994 TAG: 9410060052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Allen denied the charge and blamed the Piedmont Environmental Council for killing the $650 million theme park planned for Prince William County.
The PEC released Disney-related documents that it obtained by filing a lawsuit against state officials. The settlement came several days before Disney announced last week it was abandoning the Haymarket site but might build elsewhere in Virginia.
The PEC said the documents show that the administration was determined to stifle opposition to the project and hide figures that raised questions about the park's cost to taxpayers and its effects on other state tourism attractions.
``These documents portray a state government which let itself become a virtual arm of Disney in its efforts to smooth the way to ultimate approval of the Haymarket development. Everyone from cabinet secretaries on down was engaged in a full court press to help Disney,'' PEC staff attorney Tim Lindstrom said at a news conference.
Allen said the PEC is trying to stop ``the backlash they're getting from the public'' for helping defeat a project that would have created 19,000 jobs.
``They're trying to skew things in a light most favorable to them,'' he told reporters. He called the PEC ``a self-centered group of extremists'' who are ``anti-jobs and anti-growth.''
Among the documents is a Jan. 14 memorandum to Allen in which Secretary of Commerce and Trade-designee Robert Skunda wrote:
``Based on the information Disney gave to VDOT on [Jan. 12], the numbers for transportation improvements are looking much higher than any of the figures that have been rumored publicly or that have been discussed in private briefings with members of the General Assembly.
``We could be looking at as much as $180 million for the transportation improvements in order for the project to be approved by the feds. This is critical information which we would not like to have circulated publicly because it will substantiate the claims of opponents that Disney has not been forthcoming.''
A Jan. 13 document showed that Dewberry & Davis, a Northern Virginia engineering firm hired by Disney, pegged road costs at as much as $216 million.
Allen said the $180 million figure ``was generated by a bunch of projects we did not go forward with.''
He said it included $11 million for roads inside the park and $10 million for signs and traffic lights. The interior roads were dropped from the final incentives package, and Prince William County agreed to pay the cost of signs and traffic lights, he said.
The Skunda memo was prepared to help Allen brief legislators on the Disney park. The governor sought and received assembly approval for a $163 million incentives package that included nearly $130 million for widening Interstate 66.
Secretary of Transportation Robert Martinez said he had not gone over the costs with Virginia Department of Transportation staff when the memo was written.
``The numbers that come out at first are never the final numbers,'' he said.
by CNB