Westside plans concern residents, too

Lolita Harper

Much of the opposition to redevelopment has come from owners of

lucrative industrial businesses on the Westside, but a handful of

residents have joined the resistance, saying they refuse to be

displaced from their lifelong homes.

Sarah Sullivan said she is not willing to let go of her home of 38

years to support a vain effort to “improve” her city of 64 years.

“My husband died 33 years ago, and I had to work hard to pay for

my house and support my two children,” Sullivan said, crying. “I

worked three-part time jobs and went to college at night in order to

train for a job in secretarial science. It wasn’t easy, but I kept my

house, and my children grew up here.”

Sullivan is just one of a growing group of Center Street residents

who take exception to being included in an area marked for drastic

changes, possibly including a bustling downtown shopping area with

upscale boutiques and a national-chain grocery store.

THE HISTORY

In February, the Planning Commission adopted preliminary

boundaries for an odd-shaped redevelopment area -- roughly bordered

by 15th Street, Whittier Avenue and East 19th Street -- that may be

added to the zone.

The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, granted a

six-month postponement of the issue to begin an economic study of a

commercial area that runs along 19th Street east of Monrovia Avenue.

The delay also gave the city’s Community Redevelopment Action

Committee a chance to present its proposed vision for the Westside

last week.

Members of the committee unveiled their long-awaited report for

the Westside, portions of which are marked for redevelopment, such as

on Center Street. The action plan highlighted 28 goals; at the top of

the list was attracting a national-chain supermarket and commercial

center to 19th Street.

Reports from that meeting spread rapidly among the tight-knit

Center Street neighbors, and they have vowed to fight it -- even

though they are not sure exactly what they are fighting.

“This has been going on for a while,” said Center Street resident

Monica Havens, whose home was spared from the proposed area. Her

business wasn’t.

“[City officials] send these letters out to everyone and scare us

and they still don’t know what they are going to do,” she said. “If

they are going to do something, then figure it out and let us put up

a real fight.”

JUST SUGGESTIONS

Mike Robinson, the city’s director of redevelopment, said the

committee’s suggestions for the area are just that: suggestions. The

report does not dictate policy and is only intended as an advisory

document to help communicate a widely held vision for that portion of

the city. The report fell well short of any type of detailed plan,

making it nearly impossible for the Redevelopment Agency to act on

the ideas.

As far as the proposed 443-acre section to be added to the city’s

redevelopment area, the City Council has yet to approve it -- a move

that residents and business owners will fight bitterly.

If the preliminary boundaries are approved, independent

consultants will begin an in-depth assessment of blight in the area,

gauging properties on physical and economic conditions. Some of the

economic criteria relate to depreciation or stagnation in property

values, but there are no guidelines in these areas, so it’s basically

up to the consultants to determine, Robinson said.

And those determinations can always be challenged in court.

If the area is declared a redevelopment zone, property taxes will

be frozen at the rate of the current fiscal year and 70% of future

tax increases are redirected to the redevelopment agency. Entities

such as the school district and the city’s general fund will still

receive their same portion of the base rate, but will have to share

the other 30% of the increases.

The money set aside will be used to spruce up the neighborhood,

spur economic growth and transform the Westside from a largely

concrete jungle of manufacturing buildings and apartments into a

thriving downtown, redevelopment supporters said.

A number of residents, many of whom are Westside residents, has

long pushed for drastic changes in the area, claiming the city needs

to take a heavy hand in revitalization. A large number supports using

eminent domain, which gives the city rights to the land for the

benefit of Costa Mesa.

BETTER THAN BEFORE

Center Street residents said they don’t need a radical solution.

Their home-grown version of community improvement, combined with

sound maintenance projects from the city, will suffice.

Residents admit the street was once run down and dangerous. Drugs,

gangs and speeding cars were just some of the problems the neighbors

faced, but they banded together as a community, Havens said.

“Everybody is making this place nicer,” Havens said. “We fought

really hard to get rid of those drug dealers and gang bangers. I had

to call the police every single day until, finally, we got bike

patrol officers out here. We would sit out and watch our street and

make sure people knew they couldn’t get away with certain things in

our neighborhood. Things were just starting to get better and look

better, and now this.”

Sullivan agreed, saying the continuous hikes in property values

create a built-in improvement strategy.

“I don’t feel that the neighborhood is blighted,” Sullivan said.

“The people who have bought here lately spent a lot of money. And now

all these people on the street have spent money on their homes to

improve them. We don’t have the problems we had 15 years ago. I feel

safe here.”

In addition to uprooting her neighbors, Havens said the city will

unintentionally undo all the work that has been done thus far to

eradicate crime.

“You put up a shopping center over there and you are going to have

my house facing a giant brick wall,” she said. “All the gang bangers

will be back to write all over it, and more and more stuff can happen

because it will all be hidden behind the wall.”

WARY OF REDEVELOPMENT

Havens said city officials make a case for redevelopment to

improve the quality of life for residents, yet they ignore what

residents of the immediate area have to say. Instead, they listen to

the political rhetoric from people across town who haven’t bothered

to take a closer look at the Center Street neighborhood.

“I think that most of them don’t even know what they are saying,”

Havens said. “They live over in Mesa Verde or somewhere and have

never even walked on our street.

“Our community will get better if we get together and make it

better,” she said. “We can make it better ourselves, the way we want

to make it better. We don’t need them coming in here and telling us

what will make us happy.”

Some owners are worried that they will not be fairly compensated

for their property if the city exercises eminent domain.

Redevelopment laws mandate that the city pay relocation costs in

addition to the appraised value of the property. The city hires its

own appraisal company, and if homeowners dispute the amount, they may

have their own appraisal done and try to negotiate with the city. If

a compromise cannot be reached, the item goes to court.

Appraisal numbers never amount to market value, Havens argued,

leaving her neighbors with few options after all is said and done.

“Those people have lived there their whole entire lives, and they

don’t have [anywhere] to go,” Havens said.

Those who support redevelopment know the issue is far from simple.

Many hard decisions must be made, and sometimes a small minority is

inconvenienced for the greater good of the entire city.

Sullivan is an older woman who is not so concerned about making a

personal sacrifice for the good of her city as she is about going

about her daily life.

“I don’t have the strength to look for another home,” Sullivan

said. “Besides, what are they going to give us? Homes in Costa Mesa

are over $500,000, and you hardly see any for sale. I need to be

close to the stores and the bus.

“I love the city. It is my home,” she said. “But to just be

uprooted like this? I am in good health. I am over 80 years old and

have all my teeth, but I couldn’t sleep last night thinking about

this. It is making me sick.”

* 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.