Battle Over Stadium Pact Enters Lull

Department 36 of the Orange County Municipal Court in Santa Ana was host to some well-known personalities this past year: former singing cowboy and California Angels owner Gene Autry, Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and Los Angeles Rams owner Georgia Frontiere, among others.

But after Wednesday, the courtroom may not see such luminaries for a while.

Attorneys for the City of Anaheim, the California Angels and the Los Angeles Rams met Wednesday to hear Judge Frank Domenichini make some final rulings on motions in the $100-million lawsuit involving development rights in the Anaheim Stadium parking lot.

The next time attorneys meet will be in the summer, when they will gather again before Domenichini to answer questions and possibly give additional oral arguments before the judge takes the case under submission.

Last month, the attorneys concluded their cases in the lawsuit filed by the Angels against Anaheim. Between now and July, each side will file a series of briefs, including closing arguments.

Building Rights Pledged

When Anaheim lured the Rams to Orange County in 1978, the city promised Anaheim Stadium Associates--a partnership composed of representatives of the Rams and the Boston-based development firm of Cabot, Cabot & Forbes--development rights to high-rise office towers and parking structures.

The judge will have to decide whether Anaheim violated its lease with the parent company of the Angels when it agreed to development on part of the stadium parking lot.

The Angels have argued that the projects would take away flat parking spaces and inconvenience fans with high-rise parking structures. The city has argued that fans will get more--not fewer--parking spaces as a result of the project.