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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcc min 1974/03/14 MINUTES OF AN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING CITY COUNCIL, CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA Held Thursday March 14, 1974 An adjourned regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Chula Vista, California, was held on the above date beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Civic Center, 276 Fourth Avenue, with the following Councilmen present: Councilmen Scott, Hobel, Hyde, Egdahl Councilman absent: Mayor Hamilton Staff present: City Manager Thomson, City Attorney Lindberg, Community Development Coordinator Henthorn, Director of Planning Peterson, Members of the Planning Commission In the absence of Mayor Hamilton, Mayor Pro Tempore Hobel conducted the meeting. PRESENTATION BY Mr. Henthorn submitted a slide presentation discussing JACK HENTHORN the City's involvement in redevelopment, the State Act, the financial provisions of the law, the tax increment financing, the administrative approach, and the actual systems design. Role of Council and Mr. Henthorn commented on the roles of the City Council, Planning Commission Planning Commission and staff in this process. The City Council has the dual role of being the legisla- tive body and the Redevelopment Agency; the Planning Commission is charged with the development of plan proposals for the various project areas selected by the Redevelopment Agency. The general public will be contacted and the staff will have to work with various ad hoc groups that will be formed in this process of community development. State Law The Community Redevelopment Law of the State of California allows cities and other governmental entities to undertake redevelopment to any level they may desire and find feasible. Funding provisions Tax increment financing is available in very few localities outside the State of California. It allows a City within an adopted redevelopment plan, upon its effective date, to freeze the tax base within a project area. The base is the assessed value of the property and improvements within a project area. The amount of tax base generated through redevelopment above and beyond this frozen base is known as the tax increment base. This is the amount of assessed value that the City receives from the tax increment funding. Questions from Planning Commissioner Rudolph asked if the base value audience was frozen permanently, and would any consideration be given to general inflation. Mr. Henthorn answered that if the land value increases even though no improvement has been made, by virtue of the fact that it is within the project area, the amount of increase would then be included again in the tax increment base. John Robinson Mr. Robinson asked what this money will be used for. Karate School Mr. Henthorn said it can be used either to finance a type of tax-allocation bond or can be used directly for purchase of public improvements, such as land. Adjourned meeting of the City Council - March 14, 1974 page 2 Bernie Bernes Mr. Bernes asked what benefits would the property owner realize from a redevelopment project. Mr. Henthorn explained that the properties are assessed as of March i of every year, and any increase that would result from that reevaluation of the property would accrue to the City. The property owner'~ land would increase drastically because of being in the area of redevelopment. Mel Morrell Mr. Morrell questioned the actual use of the money - would it go to putting in sewers, street improvements? City Attorney Lindberg stated it would not be limited to just the public improvements. It could be used for acquisition of property which could later be sold for private development. City Manager Thomson compared an area to that of Mission Bay in San Diego, commenting that this City could have that lease-tenant type arrangement with the Redevelopment Agency. General discussion A lengthy discussion ensued pertaining to public input in the plan, and more particularly to the role of the petition presented to the Planning Commission by the proper.fy owners of the area. "Bud" Wilson Planning Commissioner Wilson felt the plan showed very little public input. He indicated that the boundaries of the area would be very important and asked if a public hearing would be held on this matter. Mr. Henthorn indicated that none is provided in the plan. Similar projects Councilman Scott remarked that the plan wouldn't go to the first stage unless there was tremendous support from the people interes~in redevelopment. He felt it would be helpful both for the Council and the interested parties to discuss a project that has taken place in California: what they could do, what they did, what the results were, and what the monies were spent for. He asked for a concrete example of a redevelop- ment project - one in which a counterpart could be found in Chula Vista. Initiation of project Mr. Wood, President, Chamber of Commerce, asked what Ken Wood the property owners must specifically have in the petition they must submit to the Planning Commission. Mr. Henthorn said it would have to generally describe the area boundaries. The Planning Commission then determines whether certain findings required by law can be made within that area to implement a redevelop- ment project. Councilman Egdahl commented that there were two ways in which a project can be generated: one would come from the Executive Director and the other way by a petition from owners in fee. Leslie Rice Commissioner Rice noted the time in the plan which Planning Commission called for a public hearing. He declared that if the hearing is delayed until this long in the game, they must "go back to the drawing board," and it would delay the entire process. He felt that a public hearing should be considered in the beginning of the process. Adjourned meeting of the City Council - March 14, 1974 page 3 City Manager Thomson explained that other cities recommend few but substantive hearings when there is something really accomplished. In this particular .plan, the public hearing is called when the "package" is altogether. City Attorney Lindberg noted that public input is received throughout the process. John Macevicz, Chairman Mr. Macevicz remarked that the flow chart shows Planning Commission nothing about public input. He commented that this should be shown on the charts. Tax increment plan In answer to Councilman Hobel's query, City Attorney Lindberg stated that the tax increment plan was not the only one that could be used - it was one of many. Presentation next Councilman Scott reiterated that the City Manager week should prepare an example of some other city's plan for the meeting scheduled on Thursday, March 21. Councilman Egdahl added that an option would be to use a hypothetical case of a businessman in a redevelop. ment area and point out the benefits of the plan, if he would be paying more or less money, and other features. Mr. Thomson remarked that he will present examples as to how it would not only affect one businessman but a group of businessmen in the Downtown Area. Niek Slijk, Mr. Slijk declared that "public input" should be Chamber of Connnerce more specifically defined. Meeting at Norman Park Mr. Wood invited members of the Council and the Center audience to a meeting which will be held at the Norman Park Center on Monday evening, 7:30 p.m. to hear Mr. Brahe from Michigan discuss redevelopment. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Pro Tempore Hobel adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m. to the next regular scheduled meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, March 19, 1974, at 7:00 p.m. ~2~?gLgz C~ Clerk