Small Firms Express Fear as Downey Heads Into 118-Acre Redevelopment

Larry Blauvelt fears that Downey’s proposed redevelopment plan could make it difficult for him to keep operating his mom-and-pop business.

Blauvelt and his wife, Maureen, make signs in a small shop in an aging industrial alley that is included in a proposed redevelopment zone called the Woodruff Industrial Project.

“They say we’re a burden to the community and a depressed business (area),” Blauvelt said in a recent interview. “I feel I’m just the opposite. I feel like they’re going to bulldoze my business and ruin my future.”

Low Monthly Rent

Blauvelt and the owners of 11 other businesses in the cluster of green and yellow buildings on Regentview Avenue pay a monthly rent of about 15 cents to 20 cents a square foot. If new buildings were put in under the redevelopment plan, Blauvelt said his rent would more than double, forcing him to move, raise his prices and lose customers.

“It’s going to kill me,” Blauvelt said. “My very low overhead has been very beneficial to me. Without that I wouldn’t be in business today.”

Blauvelt is not alone in his fear of redevelopment, but there is another view promoted by the city’s Redevelopment Agency.

Agency officials say they are trying to ensure Downey’s future, and that means change. The financial incentives provided by the redevelopment project would attract industry, jobs and raise tax revenue for the city, said John F. Wager, redevelopment manager.

“If Downey maintains the status quo, we’re going to see cities around us attracting business, retail sales and developments that otherwise would have come to Downey,” Wager said. “Creating and maintaining jobs, that’s what Woodruff (redevelopment) comes back to.”

Public Hearing Scheduled

As proposed, the Woodruff Industrial Project would encompass 118 acres of an industrial area straddling Woodruff Avenue south of Firestone Boulevard.

The City Council, which doubles as the Community Development Commission and is responsible for approving the Woodruff Industrial Project, is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the plan at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

The Redevelopment Agency has tried before to form a larger redevelopment zone in the same area, but public opposition stymied approval and portions were deleted in an attempt to make the plan more acceptable.

The agency contends that the area is blighted, with some dilapidated buildings and land uses contrary to zoning. The agency also contends that there is not enough water going into some parts of the area to fight fires and that the economic benefits of a redevelopment zone are needed to encourage growth.

Property Taxes Frozen

When a redevelopment district is created, property taxes used to support traditional government services are frozen. Additional tax revenue from the higher value of redeveloped properties is then diverted to the redevelopment agency. The agency uses that money to promote development through low-interest loans and subsidized public improvements.

Once formed, the redevelopment zone would be in place for 30 years, and the agency would have condemnation powers for 12 years.

Two groups of area businessmen have submitted petitions to the city requesting that their areas be deleted from the proposed redevelopment zone. If the redevelopment district is formed, the landowners in those areas could be compelled to make improvements, or even forced to sell their land to make way for other developments.

Leo and Lois Du Lac of Hesperia own the industrial alley that houses Blauvelt’s sign shop, a number of machine shops and other small businesses. The Du Lacs, long-time Downey residents until 1983, said some of their tenants have been in the building for 30 years, while others are second-generation businessmen and tenants. The buildings are from six to 30 years old, Leo Du Lac said.

“We’re very happy the way things have been,” Lois Du Lac said.

Petition Submitted

The Du Lacs and their tenants submitted a petition last month requesting removal from the project.

A few blocks away on the southern tip of the proposed redevelopment zone, businessmen along Everest Street and Benedict and Woodruff avenues also have organized to oppose the project.

Thirteen landowners and 32 businessmen in the area signed a petition to be removed from the proposed redevelopment zone, said David C. Muhs, chairman of the opposition group and the president of EDM Supplies Inc.

In a letter to Mayor James S. Santangelo, who doubles as chairman of the Downey Community Development Commission, the group noted that 247 people are employed in the area, and that the land is 100% developed and occupied.

The group also noted that a 36,000-square-foot building owned by local businessman Edward DiLoreto was built in the area last September.

“These types of developments are evidence the area is thriving and continuing to develop without redevelopment law,” Muhs said. “We feel that we have a thriving and prosperous business community here that is providing jobs and revenues for the city.”

Some Facilities Outgrown

But as the Redevelopment Agency sees it, development should be occurring much faster in the entire Woodruff area, the city’s industrial base.

Wager noted that some businesses, including Muhs’, are housed in more than one building, including some that are across the street from one another.

“We see instances of businesses that have outgrown their facilities,” Wager said. “There’s a possibility that redevelopment may help them to be more productive, which would give them more money to invest, which would translate into more jobs.”

The redevelopment plan also has its supporters outside of city government.

Patrick Gravitt, a local marketing manager for the Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co., said the pending plan was a “major incentive” in his firm’s decision to buy a 14-acre parcel in the area last year. Lincoln plans to build an industrial park and anticipates it will receive financial assistance from the Redevelopment Agency if the Woodruff Project is approved, Gravitt said.

“Without that we probably would not have gone into it,” he said.

County Opposition

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County has joined the two local groups in opposing sections of the redevelopment plan. In a report released earlier this month, the county noted that property values in the Woodruff area increased an average of 9.6% during the past five years, while rates for the entire city and Los Angeles County were 8.1% and 9.2% respectively.

The county has asked the city to exclude from the plan the DiLoreto building, the Lincoln Property project and other parcels.

If the plan is approved, Wager said the Redevelopment Agency foresees continued development of small businesses--old and new--in the area.

“We’d hate to see a situation where conditions deteriorate and those businesses (in the area) would have to find other locations,” he said.

‘A Cloud Over Our Future’

Muhs said he has received assurances that the Redevelopment Agency will work with owners so they can participate in redevelopment and keep their property, but “we see this redevelopment as a cloud . . . hanging over our future.

“The assurances I get from the Redevelopment Agency and the (City) Council, they may not be here three years from now and we’ll be left with this law to deal with.”

A separate plan to add 305 acres to Downey’s redevelopment zone along Firestone Boulevard hit a snag last week when an advisory committee voted 9 to 4 to eliminate the Redevelopment Agency’s power of eminent domain.

Members of the Project Area Committee acted to protect the property rights of homeowners in the proposed addition--the so-called Amendment 4--to the 125-acre redevelopment zone, said PAC Chairman George Holiday.

State law requires that a PAC be formed when significant residential areas are to be included in a redevelopment area. No PAC is required for the Woodruff Industrial Project, which includes only one residence, city officials said.

A public hearing on Amendment 4 is scheduled June 9.