Taxes for Shopping Area OKd

A plan to create an outdoor pedestrian shopping area on Birch Street west of Brea Boulevard, part of the city’s ongoing downtown redevelopment project, moved forward this week with the creation of a tax district to raise money for street improvements.

Property owners in the area, which includes the Gateway shopping center at Brea Boulevard and Imperial Highway, voted to support the project, in which increased taxes will be used to repay a $2-million bond issue for upgrades to Birch Street.

The City Council approved the plan this week.

Once the section of Birch Street is completed, city officials envision a lively shopping and entertainment area anchored by an Edwards movie theater. Restaurants and retail shops would line a walkway dotted with fountains, benches and eating areas, said Assistant City Manager Tim O’Donnell.

“We’re getting pretty excited about this [project],” he said. “It’s a place Brea has been without since the advent of the big freeway mall. We need to create a downtown focus.”

O’Donnell said construction of the Birch Street improvements will begin in the next few months, with addition of the movie theater planned around the summer of 1997.

“The project begins with the anchor [theater],” he said. “Then its starts to develop an energy that will have [retailers] knocking on our door. In the next few months, you’ll see a lot of deals made in that area.”