California Redevelopment Round Up

As we noted earlier today (“Cal Supreme Court “Redevelops” Redevelopment Agencies“), the California Supreme Court has dealt a stunning blow to the redevelopment-industrial compex in California. Here’s more from media outlets and legal commentators:

• Governor Jerry Brown issues his shortest press release, ever: “Today’s ruling by the California Supreme Court validates a key component of the state budget and guarantees more than a billion dollars of ongoing funding for schools and public safety.” No call for “excessive celebration” for that one. But you know he’s doing an end-zone dance right about now.

• Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead! California Supreme Court Approves Legislative Abolition of Redevelopment Agencies – Did you really need us to tell you that is Gideon Kanner’s take on the situation?

• Supreme Court Upholds Law Eliminating California’s Revelopment Agencies – Rick Rayl and Brad Kuhn weigh in: “The bottom line: the decision ends redevelopment in California.” Calendar this: Rick and Brad will be hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss the opinion, its implications, and what happens from here. Follow California Eminent Domain Report for details. 

• State wins right to abollish redevelopment agencies – via the San Francisco Chronicle: “The California Supreme Court dealt a death blow to the state’s decades-old redevelopment program, ruling today that state lawmakers did have the authority to eliminate the economic development program, but striking down a law that would have allowed the agencies to exist in a smaller form.”

• California Supreme Court Upholds Abolition of Local Redevelopment Agencies – lawprof Richard Frank at Legal Planet blog: “What happens now? Local government mavens and defenders of redevelopment policy will no doubt bemoan the looming elimination of California redevelopment agencies. I’m slightly more sanguine about the future: California land use policy, practice and politics have proven remarkably resilient over the years. My hunch is that developers, planners, local government officials and other stakeholders will be creative enough to find other strategies to promote, finance and build worthwhile projects to restore and revitalize California’s urban neighborhoods.”

• The Death of Redevelopment – from the Voice of San Diego: “The decision comes with incredibly wide-ranging impacts on hot-button issues across San Diego….The program, established to fix up downtrodden neighborhoods, is widely credited with downtown’s famous rebirth. At the same time, it’s been host to local scandals and in some cases strayed from the original intent, becoming an easy pot of money for politicians to tap for big projects without having to ask for voter approval.” (with links to other reports).

• The League of California Cities doesn’t like the decision, but “vowed to work with state legislators immediately to develop legislation to revive redevelopment in order to protect local communities, job creation and our economy.” 

• State Supreme Court upholds abolition of redevelopment agencies (L.A. Times) – “The ruling was a major blow to redevelopment agencies, authorized by law since 1945  and responsible for the creation of such neighborhoods as Old Pasadena and  San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, and a victory for state officials grappling with budget shortfalls.”

• Redevelopment agencies: “the sky is falling!” See here, here, and here.

• “I’m not dead..I’m getting better!” – San Leandro Projects Should Survive Adverse Redevelopment Ruling (San Leandro Patch).

• Robert Moses’ Dream Dies: CA Redevelopment Ruling Strikes Blow to Idea of Gov’t As Prime Mover, or Occupy Redevelopment – via BlawgSD: “Conservatives and libertarians can rejoice in the fact that redevelopment in California can now be dictated by the free market — if there is money to be made in a project they can buy and build it themselves if they want. We know how well banks are lending money for such construction projects these days. The end of California redevelopment as we know it also could have a friend in the Occupy movement as well, since big developer-types will likely not be receiving hoards of government redevelopment money to build those Best Buys and Targets anymore.”