Yes on Measure A

With redevelopment efforts beginning to pay off in Downtown Ventura and the Pacific View (nee Buenaventura) Mall growing bigger and better every week, fixing up the Midtown area in between is a logical next step. The redevelopment plan spelled out in ballot Measure A offers a sound strategy to achieve this goal.

The Times endorses a yes vote on Measure A in the June 8 election.

The Midtown Corridor Redevelopment Project is not universally popular. Passed by the City Council in November, it is the only item on the ballot for this special election, called because area residents and landowners gathered enough signatures to require a referendum. Voters from throughout the entire city of Ventura may cast ballots.

The project aims to clean up, fix up and revitalize the commercial corridors of East Main Street and East Thompson Avenue from Ash Street to Mills Road, including parts of Loma Vista and Telegraph roads. It would use a portion of property taxes collected in that area through 2043 to pay for enhancing public and private properties, infrastructure and housing.

Some of the opposition comes from people who resent having their businesses or blocks labeled “blighted,” the designation that allows the city to set up a redevelopment zone under state law. Because such zones allow the city to hang on to a much larger share of that area’s future tax income that would otherwise go to Sacramento, cities eager to create redevelopment zones tend to stretch a bit in their use of the term. But Midtown does have more than its share of crime, rundown properties, small lots and outdated infrastructure.

Others fear that the Midtown project could let city officials trample the rights of area residents and business owners. What would keep Redevelopment Agency officials from condemning property belonging to owners who resist the plan and turning that property over to more cooperative, or otherwise favored, developers? After several meetings with opponents, the city agreed to waive its powers of eminent domain. The city attorney has issued several statements reiterating that participation in the redevelopment plan will be voluntary and eminent domain cannot be used. City officials were wise to listen to the concerns of area residents and property owners and find ways to make the process more palatable.

We believe Ventura County voters’ support of growth-control measures such as Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) dictates a future in which expansion into rural areas will be replaced by smarter use of areas that are already built up. It only makes sense for Ventura to take advantage of the tools and tax advantages provided by redevelopment law to carry the city’s renaissance to the next level.