Plan to use federal dollars to rehab San Bernardino apartments stalls
We're planning a weekender to look on this issue in greater detail ...
By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- A redevelopment plan that would include the rehabilitation of a cluster of eastside apartments is on hold after the City Attorney asked for more time to review the paperwork.
"I think we can do it in less than two weeks. We need at least one week," City Attorney James F. Penman said Monday night during a City Council meeting.
The council voted 4-3 Monday night to grant Penman's request and put the issue on hold for two weeks.
San Bernardino Economic Development Agency officials had proposed to hire a San Clemente-based nonprofit to assist in the use of a federal grant intended to help the city cope with social problems posed by foreclosed properties.
The redevelopment proposal would employ part of $8.4 million provided through the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program to redevelop 25 eastside lots that are currently the site four-plex apartments.
The plan also includes concepts for the future development of single-family homes and senior housing, and money could also be used to demolish properties.
Federal law requires that one quarter of the grant be spent on housing programs for people earning one-half or less of the area median income. In San Bernardino, that would mean people earning $19,000 or less per year.
Aside from his assertion that city lawyers need time to analyze technical aspects of the plan, Penman argued that low-income requirements would bring a throng of troubled individuals to the area.
"One hundred new units in that area is going to have a substantial impact on the crime rate," he said.
The EDA proposed to hire Mary Erickson Community Housing, a San Clemente-based to purchase and rehabilitate abandoned or foreclosed-upon apartment buildings.
The apartments are on East 19th Street and Sunrise Lane, southeast of the area once known as the "Arden Guthries."
Several apartments at the Arden Guthries, which had a reputation as a crime-plagued neighborhood, have been demolished in a separate redevelopment effort.
Although Penman insisted that the proposed deal was not yet ready for council approval, Tim Sabo, who serves as legal counsel for the San Bernardino Economic Development Agency, said Monday that it was his opinion that the plan was ready for approval.
Interim EDA chief Emil Marzullo said if the council waits too long to approve the purchase of the properties, absentee speculators will swoop in.
"If we don't pull the trigger, someone else will," Marzullo said.
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Gosh Jim, can't you come up with anything better than "we need more time to look at it?" It seems to me you've used that one a bit much lately. Even when your contract attorney says there are no issues, there you go again. You might want to rotate your excuses around. With your army of attorneys and huge contract attorney budget, using this excuse is, well there is no easy way to break this to you, making you look bad buddy!
Has there been any solid development plans for the area near Seccombee Lake Park, where a good number of families had leave their houses? The abandoned houses are now attracting homeless, crimes, and just recently was the scene of a fatal gun shot incident. Some say that a homeless shelter is in the work for the area but at the same time there's also plans for an elementary school to be built, what is it going to be????!
Anyone please answer this!
I I J M:
Need to take this one slow and easy, or you will get Arden Guthrie all over again and Marzullo could care less! His job is to spend grant money at all cost!
Studies and more studies show , it is a fact: High density of low income apts or housing ; EQUALS HIGH CRIME AREAS!!
You would have to bury your head in the sand to deny that one or look really silly denying it.
Jim worked long and hard to clean Arden Guthrie up ( twice because of touchy feely types and the Holcomb mob,) along with the law enforcement agencies. This one is a real doozy, where by Marzullo has once again come up with grant money that has a "SLEEPER CLAUSE" in it, whereby , there is a minimum requirement of really, really low cost housing/ rentals all over again.
We went thru this with the Holcomb years, (apts everywhere, except Holcomb hill) and we have the history to show what happened in every one of those.
I am with Jim on this and you should be too, unless you want to somehow relive those troublesome years and dealing with the hideous elements that thrived in those apts(caves). For the safety of the neighborhood, east SanBernardino and the whole city ( tieing up cop time in there), this one smells of trouble if not done right.
Marzullo likes to dangle his money in front of those needy, touchy feely, eyes of council, saying what good it will do and he rushes them thru, with no real time to digest what they are doing( though the council can't admit that, or look stupider). This one didn't even have the blanks filled in and EDA counsel knew it and said we can deal with it later.
Sure, watch the eyeballs roll when that happens. Deal with it later my foot. Chief Kilmer will have his hands full then!!!
Way too much is being presented to council on short notice and "HASTE MAKES WASTE". This city has wasted far beyond reason already.
Marzullo says someone needs to "pull the trigger". Well he is doing just that if this goes bad, and it will if not carefully approached. Even if outside developers get it first, they still have to get city approval and clearances and certifications. Now there are Administrative fines to use as well! Development services can lay down the gauntlet before occupancy and lay in stipulations to keep this a more respectable project or else!
There are tools in place, just need council to use them.