SANTA ANA : Judge Rules in Favor of Bristol Project

City officials claimed a major legal victory Monday when a Superior Court judge ruled that Santa Ana can proceed with its $335-million Bristol Corridor Redevelopment Project, a controversial plan to revitalize one of the county’s most congested thoroughfares.

Tentative work on the 783-acre project was halted in January, 1990, when the Latino rights group Hermandad sued the city, claiming that Santa Ana officials had exaggerated claims of blight in the area and that Bristol Street residents would be unfairly displaced.

However, Superior Court Judge Robert A. Knox found that evidence showed that the city “did not abuse its discretion in its finding of blight.” Knox made his decision last Wednesday, but it was not disclosed until Monday’s council meeting.

“This is great for the city,” Mayor Daniel H. Young said after the decision was announced by City Atty. Edward J. Cooper. “This is one of the most important projects the city will be working on in the next two decades. We have a lot of work ahead of us. But this will give us the ability to start saving the money and work toward improving the street.”

Young said the city will start the first stage of the project by widening the street.

Hermandad officials could not be reached for comment.

Under city plans, property taxes from the area will be placed in a special fund for 35 years to help pay for the redevelopment. Under state law, the city must pay fair market prices for homes taken over by the city in eminent domain proceedings. Residents are guaranteed relocation costs.

The project area stretches from Memory Lane to Central Avenue. One of the most heavily traveled streets in the county, Bristol Street, which runs north and south, bisects the city.

Hermandad officials fear the new corridor will displace hundreds of residents who live along Bristol Street and in its surrounding neighborhoods. Bristol has dozens of mom-and-pop shops and brightly lit clothing bazaars. It is also home to some of the city’s most notorious drug-dealing areas. The police closed off Brook Street at Bristol last year because of drug dealing.

In plans outlined to the council, city officials say they hope to transform Bristol into a parkway that includes landscaped buffers and rehabilitated businesses in the area.