A judge has rejected Disney’s attempt to have a lawsuit dismissed which would challenge the validity of an agreement that transferred powers of its special district back to Disney before Gov. Ron DeSantis essentially eliminated the district, installing his own people in roles and retitling it (from the Reedy Creek Improvement District to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board).
After assuming control of the special district, established in the late 1960s to allow for limited oversight when it comes to things like road construction and maintenance and building permits (at the time Disney was thinking about either developing in Florida or advancing the Mineral King project in California; Florida wanted to sweeten the deal), DeSantis was shocked to learn that Disney had actually passed a number of agreements right before he took control.
These agreements, essentially, allowed Disney to control what was being built and operated on property for the next 30 years. DeSantis filed a lawsuit; Disney filed an attempt to have that lawsuit dismissed. And now Disney was rejected.
“The District alleges that Disney controlled RCID; that Disney itself drafted the Agreements and caused them to be adopted; and that the Agreements would assure Disney’s control of future land use and development within the District, including the District’s own lands, consistent with Disney’s corporate plans for future expansion,” is how today’s filing put it. You can read the rest of the decision here, via WESH (NBC Orlando).
Disney was saying that a state law left DeSantis’ lawsuit untenable and that it shouldn’t be allowed to move forward until other cases, in federal court, are resolved. “Because this case is not moot and a stay is not proper, the Court hereby denies Disney’s Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, to Stay this Action,” wrote 9th Judicial Circuit judge Margaret Schreiber in the order.
In response, a Disney spokesperson said, “Today’s decision has no bearing on our lawsuit in federal court to vindicate Disney’s constitutional rights, and we are fully confident Disney will prevail in both the federal and state cases.”
