Westside plan lists 28 goals
Lolita Harper
Members of an embattled and seasoned committee designed to forge a
future for the Westside of the city, presented a list of formal
recommendations Monday but reserved the right to build on those
suggestions.
Members of the Community Redevelopment Action Committee unveiled
its long-awaited report for the Westside, portions of which are
marked for redevelopment. The action plan highlighted 28 goals; at
the top of the list was attracting a national-chain supermarket so it
could be surrounded with a commercial center.
On Monday, after months of deliberation, consensus-building,
protesting and compromising, a group of seasoned residents presented
a vision for the Westside that emphasized a bustling downtown along
19th street.
While the report was highly anticipated by the City Council,
acting as the Redevelopment Agency, city leaders said they expected
more details and strategies. The agency continued the resident
committee for another year in hopes of narrowing the focus, said Mike
Robinson, the city’s director of redevelopment
“I think we were looking for a little more description, or maybe
some background from the committee on how they came up with the
recommendations, or how they saw it being implemented,” he said.
Robinson said the agency does not have to wait another year to
take action on portions of the report. Leaders could begin
implementing ideas that have been talked about for years -- such as a
shopping center at 19th Street -- now that a formal recommendation
from a city-sanctioned committee is on the record.
“Maybe now they can develop a specific site,” Robinson said.
The rest of the action plan will fall in place in time. All those
involved know the process -- whichever turn it may take -- will be
long and complex. Change will not come easily, Mayor Gary Monahan
said, and Councilwoman Libby Cowan warned of very difficult decisions
ahead.
Very strong emotions are on both sides of the debate.
Those who favor redevelopment -- a formal process that earmarks
qualifying properties and siphons associated taxes into a fund for
area improvements -- argue the area needs drastic changes to reverse
a trend of blight and sluggish property values. Various members of
the group, many of whom are associated with a group loosely known as
the “improvers,” believe the largely industrial and low- to
middle-income area could be better used for single-family homes.
The committee as a whole suggested a formal study regarding the
possibility of rezoning the bluffs from industrial to residential to
build high-priced homes with ocean views. The City Council somewhat
supports the study, but the actual decision will be much more
complicated.
On the other side of the redevelopment coin are the industrial
business owners and residents of the low- to middle-income homes on
the Westside. Most do not want to see their property turned over to
the city and strongly disagree that their neighborhood is beyond
repair.
Dan Gribble, president of the Westside Revitalization Assn. that
formed to work with the city to improve the Westside privately, said
there is no need to take property from burgeoning businesses because
of political pressure.
Others still, with no formal affiliation to any group, spoke out
in sheer frustration and fear of losing their property.
“I am extremely upset,” said Center Street resident Joyce Thomas,
whose home falls in the preliminary redevelopment area. “I have been
here 17 years and put my heart and soul and money into this house.”
The Planning Commission approved the preliminary boundaries for
the potential added area of about 400 acres -- running roughly along
15th Street, Whittier Avenue, West 19th Street and Pomona Avenue --
in January.
The Community Redevelopment Action Committee, a city-sanctioned
group, was formed in June 2002 by the Redevelopment Agency to inform
city leaders what the goal was for the city’s Westside. The group,
burdened with hurdles from the very beginning, forged through the
opinions of its original 70 members, worked with hired consultants to
“find consensus” and ultimately presented its report to the city
Monday.
In the process, about 40 people quit the committee, industrial
property owners formed their own alliance to counter the surge toward
redevelopment and the Redevelopment Agency granted an economic study
of the commercial area along 19th Street, which largely hosts small
businesses.
Plans to bring in boutiques and higher-end shops along the 19th
Street stretch of the city was also outlined in the report, as well
as adding more play space for the children.
* LOLITA HARPER writes columns Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and
covers culture and the arts. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or
by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.
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