DeSantis' Central Florida Tourism Oversight District lawsuit against Disney to go before judge today

Jul 14, 2023 in "Reedy Creek Improvement District"

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Posted: Friday July 14, 2023 1:09pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

A judge will hear arguments today from the legal teams of Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

The CFTOD board unanimously passed a motion on May 1 2023, to sue the Walt Disney Company in a Florida state court. This is in contrast to Disney's lawsuit against DeSantis and the board, which was filed in a federal court.

In announcing the lawsuit, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board chair Martin Garcia said, "Since Disney sued us, we have no choice now but to respond. This district will seek justice in state court here in Central Florida, where both it and Disney reside and do business. Yes, we'll seek justice in our own backyard."

Garcia says the state court lawsuit will seek to "uphold and enforce the board's April 26, 2023 legislative findings relating to the February 8, 2023 development agreement and declaration of restrictive covenants."

The Walt Disney Company filed a motion on May 16 to dismiss or stay the state lawsuit brought about by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Disney says CFTOD lawsuit must wait until Disney's federal case against Governor DeSantis is resolved

Disney argues that recent actions taken by the state have rendered the litigation irrelevant. Disney also says that Florida law mandates the state court to put the lawsuit on hold until the company's federal case against Governor Ron DeSantis is resolved.

In the motion filed in Florida state court, Disney's lawyers argue that the federal action Disney filed against DeSantis last month involves similar parties and overlapping issues, and the federal case should be the primary court for resolving the dispute.

Disney's federal April 26, 2023 lawsuit was filed in response to Governor DeSantis' attempts to replace the Reedy Creek Improvement District with his own hand-picked board. Disney's lawsuit says that DeSantis' actions violated its First Amendment and other constitutional rights, alleging they were motivated by retaliation due to the company's opposition to the so-called "don't say gay" law related to parental rights in schools.

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vikescaper3 days ago

I could see them doing something similar to what they did to the BVD and Hotel Plaza Blvd intersection years ago. They changed the alignment so Hotel Plaza Blvd flows directly into BVD.

maxairmike3 days ago

As long as they're widening all the way from BVD to Avalon (mainly to match lane alignments since the Sawgrass/Flemings connection is finally being fast tracked) and working with CFX to finally signalize the 429 interchange, anything less than that is like putting a normal size bandaid on a multi-inch gash. I think they also need to look at an alternative to the standard intersection for BVD and Western Way given the volume of traffic there, but that's probably more of a multi-phase project like World Drive, as it would likely involve modifications to the World Drive/BVD interchange alignment and flow, as well as the Coronado intersection in what I envision as a "good" solution.

Brian6 days ago

Widening Western Way? Yes, please! That road is a nightmare between 4-6pm, thanks to the s***storm known as I-4!

DCBaker6 days ago

Here's what was in the BoS packet:

JoeCamel6 days ago

Who's 100M is it?

GoneViral6 days ago

Imagine if anyone in this thread had said six months ago that the CFTOD would propose $100 million to fix WDW roads. They would have been laughed out of here.

Goofyernmost7 days ago

Whereas, I have no degree in legal jargon, can someone please splain what that all means and did it have any fundamental changes to how it has always been run in the past as per ss. 123.4567-8910, G.F. 🤔 :)

DCBaker8 days ago

The agenda and documents for the CFTOD Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday, May 22 is now available at the link below. https://www.oversightdistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/May-22-2024-BOS-Packet.pdf Here's what included for RESOLUTION NO. 661 (begins on page 270 in the PDF):

peter1143517 days ago

No. But it’s the start of the process

MR.Dis17 days ago

Does this mean a new agreement has been reached with Disney? I am trying to read between the lines on just what this is saying.

flyakite17 days ago

castlecake2.030 days ago

Yes

Stripes30 days ago

Has Disney/CFTOD continued to replace the purple direction signage with the new blue color scheme since CFTOD took over?

mkt30 days ago

You're right. The new document will be different. It will be "different" in the way that Chris Gaines was "different" from Garth Brooks or how the drummer from Nirvana is "different" from the singer of the Foo Fighters.