We all know that a roller coaster goes up and goes down but is it possible that one might go sideways?
That could be a possibility with the current proposal under consideration by the City of Santa Clara.
Cedar Fair, owners of Great America Amusement Park, has been working through the process with the City to deliver one of the largest investments to the Park in more than a decade. This roller coaster rises to over 100 feet before dropping into the big dip then up into multiple turns and around into a modified figure eight, all at breath sucking speed for more than two minutes.
The coaster was first approved by the City Planning Commission and moved forward to City Council for approval two weeks ago.
City Planning Commissioners initially figured this would be a slam dunk. Cedar Fair, having passed the Planning Commission thought this would be a slam dunk.
However, as you have learned, the best laid plans can be subject to a bumpy ride.
Prudential Properties, (yes that Prudential) owns a high rise building which borders the Park. They also showed up at City Council with a list of objections to the coaster being built so close to their building because of the noise that would emanate from the new ride. (Does this remind you of those people who bought homes under the airport flight pattern and now want to close the airport?)
You may remember the Park has been around for decades and the land buffer area around the park was sold off by the City and developed at a later time. Many businesses have built adjacent to the Park and yet Prudential is the only property owner at this point making an objection to the Park addition.
So the Council postponed their decision and asked City Staff to do further research and return with their findings to Council in mid August.
Meantime, Cedar Fair has missed their timetable to get the coaster on-track and rolling by the 2009 season.
Now some people speculate that Prudential has sided with the 49ers and is acting as a pawn to toss some monkey wrench into the wheels of the coaster project for a temporary derailment.
This idea of course might have something to do with the posturing taking place between the 49ers who want to use the Park overflow parking lot for a stadium and Cedar Fair who wants to pump up revenues and sell the Park at the best possible price. Of course the most obvious buyer is the 49ers.
Prudential says they are acting independent of anyone else and simply wants assurance that their tenants will not be disturbed and their property values will be protected.
Admittedly, Great America has had a rough ride the last couple of years and a new ride might be an investment that would speed up revenues and more attendance. Most likely, they will get their coaster approved by the City Council, but if Prudential is not appeased, Cedar Fair can plan on further delays through lengthy litigation.
On Tuesday morning this week the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce heard arguments from both sides represented in this dispute. Following the presentations there was some debate with support for each point of view. The Chamber Board voted to remain neutral on this issue until the process with the City is completed.
This is one coaster where you may not need a seat belt … for a while.
Miles H. Barber can be reached at Scweekly2004@yahoo.com
