Town Center redevelopment at top of city's Redevelopment Agency 'to-do' list for 2011
Foremost among many items on the City Council “to-do” list in the coming year are actions council members will take as directors of the city’s Redevelopment Agency, with the emphasis on various projects designed to revitalize the Old Town area.
This week, I’ll present some background on the agency, based partly on a talk I gave to Dave Tennant’s government classes at Esperanza High School last week. Tennant was on the Blue Ribbon Committee that set guiding principles for remaking Town Center.
The agency begins its 28th year of operation later this month, with an expected income of $21 million for the current fiscal year from “tax increment” revenue, the increase in property taxes from the amount collected when the agency’s project area was created.
A project area was formed in 1983 that included 2,640 acres of residential, commercial and industrial parcels, generally east of Hidden Hills Road and Yorba Linda Boulevard, including Savi Ranch, the La Palma Industrial Corridor and about 2,100 homes.
The area was amended in 1990 to include 344 acres along northern Imperial Highway, including Town Center and parcels abutting Valley View Avenue, Richfield Road and Yorba Linda Boulevard. Tax increment income ends in 2033 and 2038 for the two zones.
Work next year in the Savi Ranch area could include improved signage, negotiations with owners of 400 Archstone apartments on River Bend Drive for affordable covenants on 80 or more units and rezoning on some Savi Ranch commercial acreage for affordable units.
However, next year’s focus will be on specific plans for the 31-acre Old Town area. But don’t expect to see one developer remaking the entire area, as was proposed in 2004 and discarded in 2006. The council aims to select different developers for individual projects.
Among projects council will consider in coming months: an expanded and relocated library, performing arts center, passive park with outdoor amphitheater, a multi-level parking structure, Lakeview Avenue widening, new streets and pedestrian walkways.
Even though the agency already has more than $60 million in bond debt, secured by the tax increment revenue, maximum debt is $675 million, according to figures listed in the agency’s latest, council-adopted five-year implementation plan.
Not all of the agency’s $21 million annual income can be used for new projects. About 24 percent pays bond debt and 20 percent is set aside in an affordable housing fund; the largest amount, 43 percent, goes to 19 taxing agencies that would’ve normally collected the increased property taxes resulting from project area development.
Of these “pass-through payments,” Placentia-Yorba Linda school district received the most ($5.2 million in 2009-10) and Orange County Cemetery District the least ($113).
Future columns will explore other facets of redevelopment, including the agency’s affordable housing compliance plan and eminent domain authority that’s still legal.
This week, I’ll present some background on the agency, based partly on a talk I gave to Dave Tennant’s government classes at Esperanza High School last week. Tennant was on the Blue Ribbon Committee that set guiding principles for remaking Town Center.
The agency begins its 28th year of operation later this month, with an expected income of $21 million for the current fiscal year from “tax increment” revenue, the increase in property taxes from the amount collected when the agency’s project area was created.
A project area was formed in 1983 that included 2,640 acres of residential, commercial and industrial parcels, generally east of Hidden Hills Road and Yorba Linda Boulevard, including Savi Ranch, the La Palma Industrial Corridor and about 2,100 homes.
The area was amended in 1990 to include 344 acres along northern Imperial Highway, including Town Center and parcels abutting Valley View Avenue, Richfield Road and Yorba Linda Boulevard. Tax increment income ends in 2033 and 2038 for the two zones.
Work next year in the Savi Ranch area could include improved signage, negotiations with owners of 400 Archstone apartments on River Bend Drive for affordable covenants on 80 or more units and rezoning on some Savi Ranch commercial acreage for affordable units.
However, next year’s focus will be on specific plans for the 31-acre Old Town area. But don’t expect to see one developer remaking the entire area, as was proposed in 2004 and discarded in 2006. The council aims to select different developers for individual projects.
Among projects council will consider in coming months: an expanded and relocated library, performing arts center, passive park with outdoor amphitheater, a multi-level parking structure, Lakeview Avenue widening, new streets and pedestrian walkways.
Even though the agency already has more than $60 million in bond debt, secured by the tax increment revenue, maximum debt is $675 million, according to figures listed in the agency’s latest, council-adopted five-year implementation plan.
Not all of the agency’s $21 million annual income can be used for new projects. About 24 percent pays bond debt and 20 percent is set aside in an affordable housing fund; the largest amount, 43 percent, goes to 19 taxing agencies that would’ve normally collected the increased property taxes resulting from project area development.
Of these “pass-through payments,” Placentia-Yorba Linda school district received the most ($5.2 million in 2009-10) and Orange County Cemetery District the least ($113).
Future columns will explore other facets of redevelopment, including the agency’s affordable housing compliance plan and eminent domain authority that’s still legal.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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