Alhambra : Main Street Plan Appealed

The state Court of Appeal has been asked to overturn a Los Angeles County Superior Court ruling that upheld the city’s redevelopment plan for Main Street.

The plan, which will channel as much as $50 million in tax revenue to the city Redevelopment Agency over 45 years, was challenged in court last year by the county of Los Angeles, Fosselman’s Inc., James E. Fosselman, Houston Meyers and Richard M. Carman on grounds that most of Main Street is not blighted and, therefore, is ineligible for inclusion in a redevelopment project area.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lester Olson ruled last year that the City Council acted on “substantial evidence” in drawing the redevelopment boundaries and he declined to visit the area himself to decide the issue of blight independently. The county did not appeal that decision, but Fosselman, Meyers and Carman have, in a brief that contends that Olson erred in not viewing the area and in refusing to hear evidence on the blight issue.

Although the county did not appeal the decision, the county is withholding tax money that will go to the redevelopment agency if the appeal is denied. The revenue amounts to more than $350,000 a year.