Fire at Universal

the hill valley courthouse :(

It must have been the lightening.

No sympathy for Universal. (Much of Universal City lies in unincorporated LA County land, handily dodging higher taxes and certain building code standards and the like.)

lightning, I meant to say. Way to f-up my own dumb joke

xp

i'm creeped out about this because i dreamed about Hollywood burning last night. Universal Studios is not Hollywood, but still, fuck.

certain building code standards and the like.

Bah. I work with fire alarm systems and I've no sympathy for this kinda shit; building and fire codes are there for a reason, dammit.

That's my point!

Exactly. I'm agreein' with ya.

How is building outside the city "dodging" city taxes and building codes?

When it's done with the express purpose to gain access to city services and populations due to proximity, but wanting to be responsible for the necessary conditions.

they should just declare it a church

I think you just answered your own question, Kerm. But if you'd like some other background -- here and here, for instance -- Universal has always found it very handy to keep its property out of city jurisdiction as much as possible. Keep in mind, as kingfish has noted (though I think he meant 'not wanting'): this isn't something on the border of Los Angeles, it's right in the middle of everything!

Yes, not wanting, should have said.

They like being near the city, but not entirely in the city, because it's cheaper. The bastards.

Kerm, you're being cute and all, but if you wouldn't mind reading...

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge said he also heard about the water-pressure problems.

"If this was a neighborhood, they would have had a higher requirement for water pressure," he said this morning, standing outside the studio gates. "That's a big issue."

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said the agency supplies Universal, but the park runs its own water system. DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said the agency tried to boost water pressure there for firefighters after being alerted about 80 minutes after the fire broke out at 4:45 a.m., but it "had a negligible effect."

"We can only make changes on our system," he said, referring to the hydrant system. "And we had no loss of supply from our end."

So to reiterate, no sympathy for Universal here.

I could be wrong, but doesn't Disneyworld operate this way just outside Orlanda proper for tax exemption reasons?

I know Disneyland, love 'em or hate 'em, are in Anaheim proper, albeit the very southeast corner of the city, closer to Santa Ana and Garden Grove than the rest of Anaheim (who could blame anyone for not wanting to be close to most of Anaheim?) Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if Anaheim just handed Disneyland tax exemptions outright.

Orlando, obv