Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and The Walt Disney Company have been in a back-and-forth battle for some time now.
DeSantis took control of Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, renaming it the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and appointing new board members to oversee the property where Disney World stands. The board has already met a few times, but after the most recent meeting, we’ve learned more about the actions they plan to take in the future.
After the first few CFTOD board meetings, we learned that the new board was seeking legal action against Disney for steps that Reedy Creek took when Disney was still in control of the board. Before the new board was appointed, the previous members made agreements with Disney that give it control over Reedy Creek land for the next 30 years, which the new District’s legal counsel has called “unusual” and “suspect.”
This resulted in more back-and-forth between Governor DeSantis and Disney, with Disney claiming that its actions were lawful. CEO Bob Iger even stepped in to share his thoughts, saying that DeSantis’s actions seemed “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.” DeSantis responded by escalating the threats against the company, looking into its hotel taxes and potentially imposing tolls on roads that lead into the property.
So after all that, what’s the latest update from the CFTOD board? They met on April 19th to discuss the next steps of action and we learned a bit about what the new Board plans to do. According to the new Board’s lawyers, Disney’s agreements didn’t follow state law requirements, rendering them void.
David Thompson, a lawyer with Cooper & Kirk, one of the firms representing DeSantis’ new Board, claims, “The bottom line is that Disney engaged in a caper worthy of Scrooge McDuck to try to evade Florida law.”
Per the lawyers, the previous Reedy Creek Board didn’t properly notify property owners of the agreement by mail, which is a requirement in Florida statutes. The agreements were advertised and approved in public meetings, but the new Board claims no records were found of notices being mailed.
Bills were also sent to the Florida House and Senate that would allow the development agreement to be voided by the new Board. Jacob Schumer, a Florida attorney who specializes in local government law, told the Orlando Sentinel that voiding the agreement “could put the state on shaky legal ground because it would impair a contract.”
Rep. Anna Eskamani of Florida has also made similar statements.
Reedy Creek/Disney amendment has dropped on SB1604. This immediately seems like it's going to run into Constitutional problems with impairing contracts.
LINK: https://t.co/e7bBtdLC2u pic.twitter.com/BXNxB0cAow
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani ? (@AnnaForFlorida) April 18, 2023
The Board also voted to give itself “superior authority” over Disney by removing the planning board and terminating planning board members. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District voted unanimously to approve Resolution 639 and has set a second reading and public hearing for April 26th.
They’ve also mentioned a new resolution that would address COVID-19 restrictions and mandates within the district, but that will be discussed at a future meeting. One Board member discussed that having more oversight could change things at Disney, specifically as it pertains to the monorail. They claim that the monorail and its support structures are one of the few systems that are not reviewed or inspected.
As far as future plans go, the Board has indicated they want to develop traffic solutions, create new zoning, and create voting rights for future residents, but it has not shared any plans or resolutions to do so. Raising property taxes for Disney (which is already the largest taxpayer in the state of Florida) was also an idea tossed out by the Board chair.
The next meeting will be taking place on April 26th, and we’ll be keeping an eye out for more updates until then.
We’ll continue to keep an eye on the Reedy Creek situation and the feud with DeSantis and Disney and keep you updated. Stay tuned to AllEars for the latest.
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I wonder what the “Central Florida Tourism Oversight District” has in mind for Universal, Sea World, Gatorland etc. Oh wait, nothing. This is just Desantis’ revenge on Disney for saying not nice things about his politics.
That sounds a little ‘self serving’. I guess it’s okay if they do it, as long as nobody else does it to them.
Wait a minute. I thought the Republicans wanted government out of your life and not telling you what to do. And they want taxes cut. This says they want to raise taxes. And more regulations. And more government oversight. And Republicans have this portrait that if you put things in the hands of the government, they will screw it up. Are you sure this is the Republican party doing this? Oh wait, we are talking Disney here. This is all a new story line: The evil warlord, Desantiscar, tries to destroy The kingdom and The hero, Igerimba, saves the kingdom for all to enjoy. And then a new ride will be created to celebrate good over evil. And millions cone to experience the thrill of destroying Desantiscar..Whew, for a second there…..
if you have walt disney stock,sell it now.
the disney company is laying off 7.000 employees tomorrow including
cast members at walt disney world.
is the state of florida required by law to mail notices to property owners concerning current legislation being considered and voted upon and becoming law?
You don’t have to mail notices. You just have to publish notices in the local papers, which was done. Don’t blame Disney just because DeSatan was too caught up in his culture war BS to appoint someone from his staff to keep an eye on everything that Disney was planning. DeSatan was caught with his pants down and is now trying to salvage his crumbling reputation. But, it’s too late. His own donors are pulling their support because they are creeped out over this obsession with Disney. DeSatan can’t out-MAGA Trump. Frankly, it’s embarrassing to watch him try.