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.
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