Anaheim’s Letter on Redevelopment Sparks Concern

A $2.7-billion Anaheim redevelopment plan that didn’t attract one speaker at a recent public hearing is likely to draw much complaining today when the City Council discusses its final approval.

Residents in the area became alarmed last week when they received a certified letter from the city saying the project could require that some private property be taken through eminent domain.

That caused Cora Weinert, a local real estate agent, and resident Doug Kintz to spend their holiday weekend collecting signatures for a petition and passing out more than 800 flyers door to door in a last-minute effort to stop the plan.

Area ‘Not Blighted’

“I’m in a state of shock,” said Weinert, who was hoping for at least 600 protesters at today’s council meeting. “There are areas that might need refurbishing, but they’re not blighted.”

Weinert and other residents said they were not aware of the redevelopment plan until they received the letter last week.

Anaheim’s community development director, Norman J. Priest, said he believes the residents misinterpreted the letter notifying them about today’s meeting. Priest said he has been busy fielding angry phone calls since the letter was mailed Wednesday.

“Our thrust here is to help the traffic system work better and to make sure the infrastructure in the residential areas is up to par,” Priest said.

He said the letter implied “that we were going to buy up whole neighborhoods, and that simply is not true.”

Priest said the city would seek to acquire property forcibly only if a building was in unusually poor condition and its owners uncooperative. Priest would not predict how many such cases might arise but said a report prepared for the project by urban planning consultants Katz, Hollis, Coren & Associates of Los Angeles estimated that about 10% of the buildings in the proposed redevelopment area were in serious disrepair.

The Katella Redevelopment Project is scheduled to be completed in the year 2022 at a cost of about $2.7 billion, Priest said. All of the money is expected to come from new property taxes generated by new building or increased property values.

The project will cover 4,387 acres--the city’s largest redevelopment plan--stretching from the Santa Ana River east as far as Euclid Street, north as far as Santa Ana Street and south as far as Chapman Avenue. It was proposed about a year ago when city planners became concerned about deteriorating sewers and storm drains in residential areas and about growing traffic congestion.

Schools Would Get Money

Priest also said the area is suffering transitional pains as its industrial base gives way to more commercial businesses.

In addition to road improvements, Priest said the redevelopment plan would provide money to schools in the area for building improvements and possibly establish a fund for low-interest loans to homeowners seeking to upgrade their properties.

A portion of the money would also be spent to refurbish some low-income housing. However, Priest said the percentage of residential space in the target area is expected to stay the same throughout the project.

Some angry residents on Monday questioned why their homes were included in a redevelopment area even though they are in good condition. Although some of the project area has serious crime problems and needs the city’s attention, Weinert said there are other neighborhoods in which housing prices start at $150,000.

Kevin Boethling, who has lived for 29 years on Robert Lane with his father, said: “It’s like they’re dropping a nuclear bomb to kill an ant. The thing we’re afraid of is if they declare eminent domain and come in and bulldoze our house.”