Advisory Panel to Be Elected Dec. 14

The city is forming a 21-member citizens committee to advise the redevelopment agency and City Council on a plan to revitalize commercial districts.

The council expects to draw up a redevelopment plan for its Commercial Corridors Redevelopment Project by next summer. Tax funds from within the project area will be used for new construction, rehabilitation of existing buildings and other improvements in the redevelopment project area, which includes businesses along Firestone and Long Beach boulevards, Atlantic Avenue, and in the eastern portions of the city.

The 21-member project area committee, or PAC, will consist of business people, renters, property owners and representatives of community organizations. It will review the redevelopment plan and the environmental-impact report for the project, said Ruben Lopez, deputy director of the city’s redevelopment agency.

Qualified people in the project area are eligible to seek the positions during elections, which will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at City Hall, 8650 California Ave.

In addition, a five-member advisory panel of representatives from outside the project area will be elected. The panel will advise the PAC but will have no formal powers, Lopez said.

Those who are eligible to vote for either body can sign up at City Hall until the night of the election. Voters and those seeking positions must present identification to prove their status.