GARDEN GROVE : Council Seeks Bigger Redevelopment Area

The city’s redevelopment area moved a step closer to growing by more than 500 acres after City Council members gave first approval to the sweeping plan Tuesday night.

The council’s vote also carried with it assurances to some worried property owners that they can protect their land from seizure through the city’s power of eminent domain.

The 40-year redevelopment plan identifies areas where adverse conditions, such as deteriorating appearance, economic woes and high crime exist, while also naming municipal projects that may be considered in the future, such as a new or renovated City Hall.

Revising the redevelopment area from the 1,355 acres targeted in 1973 to the 1,928 acres recently identified by the Community Development Agency will help the city stave off a trend that has it “well on the way to becoming the slum of Orange County,” Councilman Mark Leyes said Tuesday night.

A week earlier, more than 100 residents turned out at a public hearing on the plan, many expressing fears that including their property within the new boundaries would make them targets for eminent domain, the process by which the city could force landowners to sell their property at fair-market value.

To address some of those concerns, council members voted to begin negotiations with four property owners on agreements that could involve them in the redevelopment and exempt their land from eminent domain consideration.

The council also approved a recommendation to restrict any eminent domain proceedings that might affect residents at Oasis Mobile Home Park, a move spurred by Oasis resident Ivan Morrison’s testimony last week that elderly mobile-home owners at the Chapman Avenue park would have difficulty relocating.

Greg Devereaux, director of community development, said eminent domain is a rare procedure that Garden Grove has not recently invoked, but he added that officials were reluctant to rule out the method.

“People are often nervous about it, but many times it will benefit the owners because of certain tax advantages,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to go out and do something tomorrow. It’s a tool we use to help the community.”

Among the potential projects mentioned in the redevelopment plan are a 40,000-square-foot City Hall, an expansion of Heritage Park, renovation of the Don Wash Auditorium at Garden Grove High School, and the addition of a parking structure at the Civic Center.

The process of adopting the plan was done in a series of separate votes, each of which were supported by Mayor W.E. (Walt) Donovan, Councilman Frank Kessler and Leyes. Councilman Robert F. Dinsen opposed each, and Councilman J. Tilman Williams was ineligible to vote because of a conflict of interest.