The office of state Attorney General Ashley Moody has made an official request for the procurement of all pertinent records, emails, text messages, and other correspondences relevant to negotiations between the now-defunct Reedy Creek Improvement District and Disney.
The formal submission comes just days after the Office of Governor Ron DeSantis discovered that the outgoing Board of Supervisors for Reedy Creek entered into agreements with Disney, aimed at retaining their power on land that Walt Disney World is built prior to the state’s power grab for control.
The new state-controlled board notified the DeSantis administration that the outgoing Disney-controlled members signed a thirty-year agreement on February 8 that allows Disney to retain major control of the authority over public lands, land-use agreements, and various operational responsibilities.
Here is the full request made by Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Chief of Staff James Percival to Reedy Creek Improvement District, asking for information on emails, text messages and other correspondence between district employees and board members about the agreement.
"Please provide copies of all emails, text messages, and other correspondence from or to employees, board members, or other affiliates of the Reedy Creek Improvement District regarding the following topic: Documents discussing agreements, covenants,or similar documents approved or considered by the Board of Supervisors on February 8, 2023. Please limit your search to documents discussing an intention or goal of circumventing, avoiding, frustrating, mitigating, of otherwise attempting to avoid the effects of anticipated actions by the Florida Governor and Florida Legislature.
If you believe that individuals no longer affiliated with the Reedy Creek Improvement District may possess responsive public records that are not in you custody or control, please advise how the Attorney Generals Office may be of assistance.
I ask that this request be expedited to the maximum extent possible."
On February. 8, 2023, as the Florida House was passing legislation to give DeSantis his new power, Reedy Creek’s board members signed a development agreement with Disney that allowed the company maximum developmental power over its territory for the next 30 years.
According to the new board members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight board, and their attorneys, Disney is allowed the maximum possible density and building heights inside Walt Disney World.
Other property owners will need Disney’s permission to expand within the district, and they and Reedy Creek leaders will need to seek Disney’s approval if they made any aesthetic changes to their properties within the district.
The district is also not allowed to permit advertisements of any companies that compete with ones that operate within Reedy Creek, board members said. “We lose control over everything other than to maintain the roads and maintain the infrastructure,” one board member said.
It appears that board members only discovered the agreement after their appointments!
Both they and their newly appointed attorneys called the agreement null and void.
Particular focus was paid to one section that board members said locked in development rights of a particular parcel until 21 years after the death of the youngest current descendant of King Charles, or until Disney abandons the resort.
Board members have hired multiple politically-connected law firms to represent them and analyze the agreement, and discussed bringing on as many as four different firms to battle the mighty Disney corporation as they desperately attempt to nullify the agreement.
The new board are claiming that they will take the case to the United States Supreme Court if necessary, although backtracking on this, some board members said they hoped Disney executives and attorneys would be willing to reach a compromise before any legal action was taken...
Disney issued the following statement:
“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law.”
Both sides appear to now be gearing up for a legal battle. It’s unclear what further actions the DeSantis administration might take in response to Disney’s one-upmanship, we can only wait and see...
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