Redevelopment zone vote held up

Deirdre Newman

Westside industrial property owners, who have been stewing for the

past few months over the prospect of their property being deemed

blighted, finally got to air their concerns to the Redevelopment

Agency on Monday.

As of press time, the agency had not taken a vote to accept the

preliminary boundaries for an addition of 434 acres to the downtown

redevelopment zone that the Planning Commission approved Jan. 27.

The agency -- City Council members acting under a different title

-- couldn’t decide before the public comment session whether they

would even take a vote. Councilman Allan Mansoor abstained from the

discussion because he lives too close to the area, which is roughly

bordered by 15th Street, Whittier Avenue, West 19th Street and Pomona

Avenue.

Since more than 90 people were set to speak, agency Chairman Chris

Steel predicted that no action would be taken Monday.

But agency member Gary Monahan said he would like to see some

action taken on his proposal -- to extend the redevelopment area only

down the 19th Street commercial corridor and a residential area one

block south.

“I have no desire to go forward with the 434 acres,” Monahan said.

Agency member Libby Cowan also expressed reservations about

absorbing the entire 434 acres, which encompasses 627 properties,

into the redevelopment zone.

“I don’t know if the information we have at this time is

appropriate to create all the angst that’s being created,” Cowan

said.

Cowan’s comments drew resounding cheers from among the more than

300 people in the audience.

From the heckling of the consultants who presented the

redevelopment plan, it was obvious that a large portion of the

audience was against the proposal.

“I am concerned that the City Council will override the will of

the people,” said Pat Conlon, who has owned a business on West 19th

Street for 17 years. “I think the Westside has enough viability to

hold its own.”

The Downtown Redevelopment Project was established in 1973, and

new territory has been added three times -- the last time in 1980.

Before the vote, it included about 200 acres.

In October 2001, the city began a study on adding more land to the

area to spur economic development. The study provided sufficient

evidence that other parts of the city qualify for redevelopment,

according to staff reports.

The independent consultants did a preliminary study of blight to

eliminate properties that would not qualify and arrived at the

proposed boundaries. If the agency accepts those boundaries,

properties in the area will be subject to a more rigorous analysis.

The analysis would use 66 blight indicators, which include

physical deficiencies such as electrical hazards and industrial

odors, and economic ones such as depreciated or stagnant property

values and “abnormally high” business vacancy rates.

A section of the area could also be designated blighted based on

deficiencies in the infrastructure, such as problems with the street

and the sewer system. Properties that were not found to be blighted

could also be tagged for redevelopment to ensure contiguity.

Since the consultants are still in the early stages of studying

the area, the boundaries may be modified, even after approval by the

Redevelopment Agency, said John Huffman of Urban Futures.

Industrial property owners not only fear the loss of their

property, but are critical of the city’s redevelopment efforts

because there is no plan for the future of the Westside.

They also believe that the property tax the agency would get from

their properties if they were taken through eminent domain would be

used to pay off the agency’s staggering $41-million debt.

Agency manager Mike Robinson has said that’s not the intent at

this time.

If any changes are made to the preliminary boundaries approved by

the Planning Commission, the proposal must go back to the commission

for re-approval.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.