Oxnard to Consider Renovation Study : Redevelopment: Boundaries would be decided over the next year, but area being discussed would make the project the city’s largest.

The Oxnard City Council on Tuesday will consider studying the creation of a new redevelopment project that would designate a sprawling area from the civic center to the Ventura Freeway as blighted and eligible for renovation.

If the council, acting as the Oxnard Redevelopment Agency, gives the plan a green light, the project’s boundaries and the scope of renovation would be worked out over the next year.

Between $878 million and $1.5 billion in property taxes could be raised in the area over a 40-year period, City Manager Vernon G. Hazen estimated in a report scheduled for agency review Tuesday.

That would mean an annual revenue stream of between $20 million and $40 million. The money would be spent to convert the Oxnard High School site into a park, refurbish the Community Center, construct freeway improvements and redevelop the Wagon Wheel area, Hazen said.

Of the city’s four existing redevelopment areas, the downtown area generates annual revenues of $2.6 million, while Ormand Beach yields about $1 million a year, said assistant planner Dennis Matthews.

By law, 20% of the new property taxes created in the project area would be targeted for affordable housing, which would not be limited to the project area.

The boundaries of the proposed project would not be determined until city staff meets with affected residents and business people to see how much support exists in different neighborhoods.

“No neighborhood has been specifically included, and no neighborhood has been excluded,” city planner Matt Winegar said Friday.

For now, though, the general area described by Hazen would make the city’s fifth project area its largest, edging out the 1,300-acre Ormand Beach Redevelopment area, Matthews said.

“Anyway you look at it, it’s big,” Matthews said.

By delaying a decision on where the project’s boundaries will be, the city may avoid a confrontation such as the one last year with residents of the low-income Colonia area. Residents in the Latino barrio adamantly opposed a redevelopment proposal that would have included their neighborhood in a new project area.

Mayor Manuel Lopez gave conditional support to the proposal Friday, but emphasized the need for the city to be sensitive to the fears of neighborhood residents.

“A lot of minority people are afraid of redevelopment,” Lopez said. “They see projects like Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles, where a Mexican community was removed to build Dodger Stadium. Redevelopment has had a bad reputation among minorities that was well earned.”

But Lopez said that the trend in redevelopment projects has been away from the wholesale destruction of existing communities. “Redevelopment has improved over the years, and has become a bit more sensitive.”

Councilman Michael Plisky on Friday stressed the need for the city to move cautiously before approving a project the size of the one proposed.

“Vern (Hazen) jumped the gun a few months ago and scared the hell out of everyone,” Plisky said, referring to the opposition of neighborhoods like Colonia.

“The priority should be on things that produce revenue for the city,” Plisky said.

Plisky also said he favored redevelopment goals of cleaning up blighted areas and refurbishing facilities like the community center.

And unlike the mistakes associated with redevelopment in the past, Plisky said the project would be an opportunity for some residents to improve their community.

“The intent with redevelopment is not to come in and raze a neighborhood, but is instead to be a tool to enhance neighborhoods,” Plisky said.