Anaheim Considers Redevelopment of Stadium Property : Land use: Plans could include a new facility that is better for football or construction of offices and stores in the parking lot.

The City Council tonight will consider declaring Anaheim Stadium a redevelopment project to finance renovations and spur future development in the parking lot--including the possible construction of a new stadium.

“This just gives the city, or a developer, another financial tool to generate economic development,” said City Manager James D. Ruth. “We see this as a real positive thing.”

Because of damage to the stadium from the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake, the city can designate the stadium and the parking lot a “redevelopment project,” Ruth said, thus bypassing normal redevelopment restrictions that require a showing of blight, crime and other deficiencies in the area.

Some city officials believe that remodeling the stadium or building a new one is key to retaining the Los Angeles Rams. Team officials have said the stadium is obsolete and they want to move to another city with a better facility and greater financial opportunities.

The Rams, who exercised a 15-month escape clause in their stadium lease in May, are being courted by several cities, including Baltimore and St. Louis.

City officials are examining several “construction options to make the existing stadium more suitable for football,” Ruth said.

Asked if the project could assist in financing a new stadium, Ruth said: “I wouldn’t preclude that possibility.”

During the earthquake, the stadium’s 17-ton scoreboard toppled and crushed several hundred seats. Those repairs are underway and will continue regardless of the redevelopment plan, Ruth said.

By declaring the city-owned land as a redevelopment area, the city will be able to use any increase in tax revenues to help pay for stadium improvements and development.

Ruth said the city is exploring development projects that would be beneficial to the stadium area. Among the options, he said are office buildings and retail stores.

The city’s action tonight begins the redevelopment process, which will require several public hearings before it can go forward. City staff will also be meeting with the council to determine how it wants the 150 acres of stadium land developed.

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Other governmental agencies, such as school districts, often oppose redevelopment projects because they receive a smaller share of any increase in tax revenue.

Ruth, however, said that city officials have meet with the school districts in the area, as well as the Rams and the California Angels about the redevelopment plan, and “they had no opposition to it.”

Mayor Tom Daly, who has spearheaded efforts to keep the Rams in Anaheim, said the redevelopment plan “is a proper thing to do considering the circumstances. It gives the city a tool to rehabilitate and remodel the stadium.”

Daly called the project a prudent step to involve the private sector and spur growth around the stadium. He said he was not certain what type of development projects will be encouraged for the area.

Currently, a development group involving the Rams has the right to construct office buildings on part of the stadium parking lot. The Rams and Angels are appealing a recent court decision dealing with the group’s development plans.