Stadium Master Site Plan Revealed Name of ‘Study’ for Streetcar Project, but City Website Says Nothing

An image of a streetcar from a vendor presentation that was shown to Mayor Harry Sidhu’s Transit Options Task Force in December 2019.

By DUANE ROBERTS
Editor & Publisher

The Stadium Master Site Plan, a 13-page document filed last year with the City of Anaheim by SRB Management LLC, an entity controlled by Arte Moreno, the billionaire owner of the Angels baseball team, revealed the name of the “study” for the streetcar project that Mayor Harry Sidhu’s Transit Options Task Force has been working on since 2019.

The document in question, prepared by the IBI Group, a Canadian-based consultant that describes itself as a “global architecture, engineering, planning, and technology firm” involved in “defining the cities of tomorrow,” made a brief reference to it in the last paragraph on page 13, under the topic of “infrastructure improvements.”

It reads as follows:

Anaheim Connects – Street Car

The City of Anaheim is undergoing planning efforts as part of the Anaheim Connects study to transform transportation and transit solutions in the Platinum Triangle Planning Area. The study seeks to provide opportunities to public/private partnerships, improve pedestrian and bicycle connections along the Santa Ana River, and improve the East/West transit connections between ARTIC and the Anaheim Resort Area. As part of this East/West transit connection, the Applicant is aware the City is studying a Street Car alignment that would provide potential stop(s) within the Project Site. While the City has not made any decisions regarding the alignment, design or system to be employed, the Project can accommodate potential stops in the future, if needed.

The Anaheim Investigator has known for quite some time the streetcar project is part of Anaheim Connects. But the Stadium Master Site Plan is the first “official” document that has made this information public. The link to Anaheim Connects on the city’s website says nothing about streetcars and only talks about mass transit in terms of vague generalities.

The logo for Anaheim Connects

Nobody should be surprised SRB Management LLC was aware of this study. Representatives from the Angels have been active participants in Mayor Sidhu’s Transit Options Task Force since its inception. For example, records show that Brian Sanders, Senior Director of Ballpark Operations, attended one of their meetings in February 2020.

Furthermore, a new chain of emails recently obtained by The Investigator suggest city staff were eager to share updates about the streetcar project not only with the Angels, but with Jeff Flint, CEO of FSB Public Affairs. Quarterly reports filed with the Office of the City Clerk make it clear Flint is a registered lobbyist for SRB Management LLC.

For matter of record, a city official told The Investigator late last year nothing has been finalized as of yet. Indeed, we reported in early March that the City of Anaheim is also exploring the possibility of using an aerial gondola system instead of a network of streetcars to shuttle tourists between the Platinum Triangle and Anaheim Resort.

Regardless of what the case may be, there is circumstantial evidence that Anaheim Connects will still include a streetcar. At bare minimum, a line may be built that travels east and west along Katella Avenue, from ARTIC to Harbor Boulevard. However, the size and scope of any such project will ultimately be determined by the level of government funding.