Bellflower : Green Light for Renewal

After years of sometimes bitter debate, the Bellflower City Council on Tuesday introduced an ordinance that gives council members the power to form a Community Redevelopment Agency.

The city has been struggling to create a redevelopment agency for years, despite some residents’ fears that such an agency would unfairly take residential property. Five years ago, residents overwhelmingly approved a law that prohibited the council from creating a redevelopment agency without voter approval.

But that prohibition was reversed in November when voters narrowly approved a trio of initiatives that paved the way for the creation of a redevelopment agency but set limits on the agency’s land-taking powers. By state law, a redevelopment agency directs renewal projects in blighted areas.

Bellflower is one of three cities in the Southeast that do not have redevelopment areas. The others are La Habra Heights and Artesia. The council is expected to give final approval to the ordinance at its Jan. 9 meeting.