Southeast : IMMINENT PROTECTION

Some Long Beach residents whose homes lie within the city’s redevelopment area will soon be able to apply for an inspection that could remove their property from the threat of eminent domain.

The city’s redevelopment agency recently agreed to offer 30 homeowners the chance to have their properties visually inspected for problems such as overgrown weeds and boarded-up windows. If they pass the test developed by a citizens advisory committee, they would receive a guarantee that the agency will not seize their property.

Residents who helped craft the program praised the compromise as a unique solution to the worries of those who live in the city’s Central Redevelopment Project Area, where some properties will be turned into commercial or residential projects. They said it would also encourage residents to maintain their homes.

“We want people to improve their home, improve their neighborhood,” said Pat Bergendahl, a member of an advisory subcommittee for the project area. She added that the program will provide a sense of security for residents who have been uneasy about the prospect of losing their homes since the central project’s boundaries were drawn in 1993.

Depending on residents’ response, the program may be expanded across the project area, which stretches across much of central Long Beach, said Richard Gonzalez, administrative analyst for the agency.

Gonzalez said the visual inspections will be conducted without entering the residences and will not involve the threat of citations for those who fail. He added that the checklist is loosely based on the city’s own maintenance standards.

The agency has never exercised its power of eminent domain on a residential property, Gonzalez said.