City Must First Pay State for Property : Land Buy Threatens Southeast Redevelopment

The dream of development on 66 acres of run-down Southeast San Diego land once earmarked for a freeway could still be stalled, despite celebrations by residents after last week’s decision by state officials to allow the city to buy the property.

Neighborhood activists who had fought the freeway proposal for more than a decade, arguing that it would bisect the community, hoped that by enabling the city to purchase the land, they could liberate the neighborhood from its economic stagnation. But the high price the city will pay for the 66 acres could delay improvements, including plans to pump new life into the area’s businesses.

Without the land purchase, however, the entire urban renewal effort known as the Southcrest Redevelopment Project would have been stalled indefinitely, sidelining all the projects penciled to take place in coming years, according to Rich Juarez, an aide to City Councilman William Jones.

“Without the purchase of that property and the subsequent building that will take place on it, there would not have been funds for any improvements, period,” Juarez said Wednesday. “The major piece for the whole redevelopment is that (land).”

City Council members on Monday are expected to approve the terms of the land purchase from the California Department of Transportation. The state Transportation Commission voted unanimously last week to sell the acreage, ending discussion on a decades-old proposal to construct the 1.2-mile, six-lane route through the heart of the community. The proposed freeway had been dubbed California 252, and would have connected Interstates 5 and 805.

Many area residents have fought to allow the city to purchase the land and to be consulted on what eventually will be built on the tract, where nearly 280 homes stood before they were bulldozed away by Caltrans to make way for the freeway. Residents also have clamored for city assistance to upgrade the area’s businesses and to lure a large supermarket to the area.

Under the terms of the sale, San Diego would purchase the vacant land at its appraised value of $3.3 million. Nearly 50 acres will be set aside for the construction of multifamily housing, while seven acres will be used for single-family homes. The remaining acreage will be zoned for light industry.

But the purchase agreement also requires the city over the next 15 years to spend $6.3 million for road improvements in the area, as well as $3.7 million for similar improvements in National City. That money will come from revenues raised primarily through property taxes collected from the new housing developments--money that also is targeted for financing other programs under the redevelopment projects.

According to Carolyn Smith, a project manager for the Southeast Economic Development Corp., the city agency coordinating three redevelopment projects in Southeast San Diego, San Diego could earn $1.7 million in new taxes from the area once reserved for the freeway by 1996. That amount is expected to increase to $3 million by the year 2001.

Jaurez said that while it is unlikely projects within the redevelopment area will be cancelled as a result of having to use the new monies to pay for roadway improvements, some are likely to be delayed. Those include a plan to renovate Otto Plaza, a run down shopping center on National Avenue, as well as to provide low-interest rehabilitation loans to small business owners on National and 34th Street.

“We got pretty close to hurting some of the improvements,” Juarez said. “(The agreement) is causing us to reexamine the whole financing for Southcrest.”

Despite the possible delays, area residents expressed relief that the state finally had agreed to sell the land to the city. Some, such as Roberto Lobato, who has lived in Southeast San Diego for 25 years, said they had worked 12 years to ensure a freeway was not built on the land.

“I didn’t believe it,” the 63-year-old Lobato said of the proposed sale agreement. “It was like a dream. After all these years, we finally got a decision.”

Although police say the area does not pose any particular crime problems for the community, Lobato and others say it had become a giant nuisance. People frequently dump trash on the land, they say, and vehicles are often abandoned on it. Small brush fires also have been a problem.

Jose Pacheco, who heads Neighbors United for Neighborhoods, a group of residents that has worked to improve the Southeast area, said that the group will continue to work with city officials to develop the area. With the construction of new homes, the community should become more attractive for new businesses, he predicted.

Despite the possible delay of some projects, Pacheco, 62, said he was not disillusioned.

“We thought it was going to take time to make this a reality,” Pacheco said. “We knew it was going to take until 1989 at least to make it work.”

The entire Southcrest Redevelopment Project encompasses 301 acres in an area bounded by Logan Street, Interstates 15 and 5, Vesta and Gamma streets, and 44th Street.