Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Palmdale to Forgive Loan to Developer : Construction: The City Council said it won’t collect $2 million if the builder of the Antelope Valley Mall attracts a Robinsons-May store.

City Council members have agreed to forgive a $2-million loan the city made to the developer of the Antelope Valley Mall if the company lures a new Robinsons-May store to the shopping center by the end of 1996.

In return, the developer has agreed to give Palmdale’s Redevelopment Agency four more years to build a flood control basin it was obligated to construct this year under a 1989 agreement with the mall developer.

“I see this as a straight business deal,” Councilman David J. Myers said during Monday night’s meeting. “We get something and they get something.”

Mayor Jim Ledford and Councilmen Joe Davies and Jim Root joined Myers in voting to approve the revised agreement with Forest City Development, which built and operates the 3-year-old mall. The council members voted in their role as directors of the Redevelopment Agency.

Councilwoman Teri Jones cast the lone opposing vote, saying the city should not use redevelopment dollars to subsidize large new shopping projects.

“It is against my philosophy,” Jones said Tuesday. “I would prefer to see the Redevelopment Agency use the money toward industrial relocation rather than retailers. It’s important for us to create new jobs with payrolls that will benefit the community, rather than just shifting lower-paying retail jobs.”

Some business leaders, including Jones, argue that cities should not pay to attract large new stores that sometimes put smaller local shops out of business and force those employees to seek work elsewhere.

But Al McCord, Palmdale’s deputy city administrator, recommended approval of the new agreement, saying a Robinsons-May store could generate about $8.6 million in sales tax revenue for the city.

“I justify the participation of the agency by looking at it as an investment of $2 million that, if everything comes to fruition, will return $8.6 million over the next 25 years,” he said. “It’s a good deal.”

Everett Shine, vice president of Forest City, said his company is talking to Robinsons-May officials about building a two-story, 140,000- to 150,000-square-foot store at the mall, possibly opening in early 1995.

But Shine acknowledged, “It’s not a done deal yet.”

He said Forest City asked the Redevelopment Agency to forgive the $2-million loan because the firm must prepare a building site and add parking spaces if Robinsons-May agrees to become the mall’s sixth department store. Forest City’s long-term plans call for eight department stores at the mall.

When the mall’s original plans were approved, the Redevelopment Agency agreed to build a retention basin that would keep Amargosa Creek from flooding onto part of the mall property after heavy rains. But city officials said that project hinges upon an assessment district the city wants to set up in conjunction with the 7,200-home Ritter Ranch development.

The new mall agreement gives the Redevelopment Agency until Dec. 31, 1997, to arrange the funding and build the retention basin.