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 [email protected].