SAN FERNANDO : New Redevelopment Zone Is Examined

The San Fernando City Council has taken its first official look at a plan to create a new redevelopment zone to give long-term help for businesses hit by the Northridge earthquake.

The council gave preliminary approval to the plan to create the 57-acre redevelopment zone along the city’s eastern border after a public hearing in which no one from the public spoke. A second public hearing will be held July 18 before the council approves the plan.

Ernest W. Glover, head of GRC Redevelopment Consultants, the Diamond Bar firm hired by the city to conduct a study on the plan’s feasibility, told the council that two town hall meetings have been held on the project.

The area included in the proposed redevelopment zone is primarily commercial and industrial. During the 40-year life of the zone, the plan could generate “tens of millions” of dollars in funding for projects to enhance business in the area, Glover said.

The plan was drawn up to help the city’s businesses affected by the earthquake that were not in existing redevelopment zones. The amount of money that would be raised through the zone is hard to estimate, Glover said, because of fluctuating property values.

The council also approved a plan on how to spend an additional $900,000 in earthquake relief aid earmarked for businesses, homeowners and residents who had not received the help they needed elsewhere.