Activists’ Suit Opposing Redevelopment Rejected
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has rejected a lawsuit by a group of activists opposed to the creation of the Diamond Bar redevelopment project area.
The activists had argued that the project area covering the city’s commercial strips was unnecessary because they were not blighted, as required by state law.
But Judge Ernest Hiroshige, in a ruling issued Monday, wrote that the city presented substantial evidence that the redevelopment project area is blighted.
“This is a major victory for the city,” said Assistant City Manager Jim DeStefano. “This plan has generated money to renovate our library and help persuade a Fortune 500 company [Travelers Group] to move here.”
The project area approved by the council in 1997 allows the Diamond Bar Redevelopment Agency to collect property taxes from the city’s commercial areas and reinvest them there rather than split the tax revenues among the city, schools and the county.
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