Mickey Mouse is making his way to the Coachella Valley — whether locals want him there or not. In Rancho Mirage, the Walt Disney Co. is making progress on an ambitious development that promises to sprinkle some Disney magic into real estate.
Dubbed Cotino, the master-planned community is the first of the entertainment giant’s “Storyliving” projects, designed for home buyers who want to bring Disney deeper into their everyday lives. Donald Duck won’t be delivering your mail, but the specs offer plenty of Disney flourishes, including an “ Incredibles”-themed gathering space and a 24-acre lagoon. It’s a massive undertaking, with 1,932 planned homes spread across more than 600 acres.
But some desert dwellers say they’ve already found their happiest place on Earth — and it has nothing to do with Disney. “Rancho Mirage is quiet, peaceful and friendly,” said Mark Wolpa, who moved to Rancho Mirage from San Francisco in 2008. “But Cotino’s bringing pollution, commotion and chaos to an area that didn’t want it.
” Wolpa lives down the street from the Cotino site and said once-empty roads have swelled with traffic as tractors, cranes and trucks shut down lanes and clog the road. On a visit last week, excavators working along Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra drives slowed traffic as the site’s exterior was taking shape. A roughly 6-foot wall separates the property from the street, and drought-tolerant landscaping spruces up the sidewalk that wraps around it.
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