GARDEN GROVE : 11 Named to Study City Redevelopment

More than 250 residents, business owners and tenants this week elected 11 members of a committee charged with studying possible changes in the city’s redevelopment plans.

In coming months, the new Project Area Committee will consider whether to amend the language, boundaries and debt limits of the redevelopment area, coming up with a 40-year plan for its future.

Two more committee positions, for residential tenants, are still open and will be appointed by the City Council, said Community Development Director Gregory Devereaux. The council is expected to confirm the members selected at its meeting on Tuesday, after verification of their addresses by city staff.

Redevelopment by the Garden Grove Agency for Community Development started in 1972. Since then, several project areas have been consolidated into one overall plan, which includes 1,107 acres in commercial and industrial areas scattered around the city. Properties have been added and deleted since 1972.

At issue now is 563 acres of primarily commercial and industrial property that may be included, Devereaux said.

The committee is expected to vote on a new redevelopment plan by next June, with the council acting on it in July, Devereaux said.

The members who were elected Wednesday are: residential/owner occupants Earl Hutchinson and Alexander Kim; David Archer, Garden Grove Memorial Hospital; Paul Scott, Hyatt Regency; small business owners Tom Kim and Robert Wilson; business property owners Kyong Ruebsamen and Stanley Ro; and community organization representatives Ho Chung of the Korean American Assn., Kenneth Schoening, pastor of the Garden Grove First Assembly of God, and Kathleen Rendon, principal of Garden Grove Christian School.