La Puente Pays for Error on Project Map : Redevelopment: County discovers mistake in debut proposal for agency that costs city $12,700 in tax revenue.

The city’s first step into the world of redevelopment has been marred by a small stumble.

Because of a minor map-drawing error discovered by the county two months ago, the debut project of the La Puente Redevelopment Agency has been thrown off schedule, city officials said last week.

As a result, the agency will not be able to meet an Aug. 19 deadline that would have qualified it for a greater share of the property taxes generated next year by the project, the officials said. They estimate the mistake will cost the agency $12,700 in lost revenue.

“We goofed,” acknowledged Rick Hartmann, the city’s director of community development. “But it’s not that big of a deal. Redevelopment is a slow, methodical process, and it’s not that much money we’re really out.”

Public hearings on the plan--which proposes to redevelop 93 acres spread out on four sites along the Hacienda Boulevard corridor--are still scheduled for this summer and negotiations with developers are continuing.

But officials in this former walnut-growing town, after waiting 34 years to try their hand at redevelopment, say they would have enjoyed a more auspicious start.

“I guess we’ve waited this long,” Hartmann said. “We can wait a little longer.”

Officials say the problem was caused by an engineer hired by the city who failed to accurately note one of the boundaries in project area “C,” which sits on Glendora Avenue between Temple Avenue and Hacienda Boulevard. An alleyway there was drawn as a straight line on the map when, in fact, at one point it jogs out about five feet.

The Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller’s Office caught the mistake in mid-April and told La Puente officials that they would have to correct it. Although that was easy enough, officials say it has kept them from keeping pace with a stringent series of public hearings and approvals needed in order to use the 1989-90 tax year as a base for the project.

At stake is La Puente’s share of the property taxes collected each year by the county. When a city establishes a redevelopment area, the county’s share of taxes from that site is frozen. As the property is improved and its value increases, the city redevelopment agency is entitled to any taxes collected above that base level.

By missing the deadline, the La Puente Redevelopment Agency will now have to use 1990-91 as its base year for the project. City officials estimate they would have collected about $12,700 if they had been able to freeze the county’s share of tax revenue this year.

“There was a discrepancy and we tried to contact the agency as soon as we could to have it resolved,” said Maxine Yue, a redevelopment program specialist in the county auditor-controller’s office. “But August 19 is the deadline. That’s the law. . . . We can’t just sit and wait.”

Although a public hearing is scheduled July 10 on the environmental impact of the project, La Puente officials still have to hold another hearing on the final plan itself. Since most municipal ordinances do not take effect until 30 days after passage, every detail of the project would have to be approved by July 19 in order to meet the county’s deadline.

And since this is La Puente’s first stab at redevelopment, officials say they are unwilling to rush things just to make the cutoff date.

Despite the snag, city officials have high hopes for their foray into redevelopment, which, over the course of four or five years, they expect will generate more than $1 million for the agency.

Until recently, La Puente never felt redevelopment was necessary. Despite a nagging drug and gang problem, the city coffers were flowing over with more than $16 million in cash reserves.

But in recent years, La Puente’s commercial base has suffered a series of financial blows. First, Gemco on Hacienda Boulevard--the city’s largest generator of sales tax--went out of business. Then, Jeep and Ford dealerships headed for greener pastures in the neighboring City of Industry.

In October, the City Council formed the first La Puente Redevelopment Agency and began targeting spots where an infusion of capital would help revitalize decaying, vacant or abandoned businesses.

It has highlighted four locations for redevelopment: A, Hacienda Boulevard above Francisquito Avenue; B, Hacienda Boulevard north and south of Fairgrove Avenue; C, Glendora Avenue between Hacienda Boulevard and Temple Avenue; and D, the old downtown area near Main Street.

A few residences are included in the project area, but officials say they fall within a commercial zone and would eventually be forced out anyway.

“The city decided that before the situation became worse, it was in their interests to take care of the matter,” said Jane Ferris, executive director of the La Puente Chamber of Commerce. “Upgrading the city can do nothing but help.”