Lolita Harper
Much of the opposition to redevelopment has come from owners of
lucrative industrial businesses on the Westside, but a handful of
residents have joined the resistance, saying they refuse to be
displaced from their lifelong homes.
Sarah Sullivan said she is not willing to let go of her home of 38
years to support a vain effort to "improve" her city of 64 years.
"My husband died 33 years ago, and I had to work hard to pay for
my house and support my two children," Sullivan said, crying. "I
worked three-part time jobs and went to college at night in order to
train for a job in secretarial science. It wasn't easy, but I kept my
house, and my children grew up here."
Sullivan is just one of a growing group of Center Street residents
who take exception to being included in an area marked for drastic
changes, possibly including a bustling downtown shopping area with
upscale boutiques and a national-chain grocery store.
THE HISTORY
In February, the Planning Commission adopted preliminary
boundaries for an odd-shaped redevelopment area -- roughly bordered
by 15th Street, Whittier Avenue and East 19th Street -- that may be
added to the zone.
The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, granted a
six-month postponement of the issue to begin an economic study of a
commercial area that runs along 19th Street east of Monrovia Avenue.
The delay also gave the city's Community Redevelopment Action
Committee a chance to present its proposed vision for the Westside
last week.
Members of the committee unveiled their long-awaited report for
the Westside, portions of which are marked for redevelopment, such as
on Center Street. The action plan highlighted 28 goals; at the top of
the list was attracting a national-chain supermarket and commercial
center to 19th Street.
Reports from that meeting spread rapidly among the tight-knit
Center Street neighbors, and they have vowed to fight it -- even
though they are not sure exactly what they are fighting.
"This has been going on for a while," said Center Street resident
Monica Havens, whose home was spared from the proposed area. Her
business wasn't.
"[City officials] send these letters out to everyone and scare us
and they still don't know what they are going to do," she said. "If
they are going to do something, then figure it out and let us put up
a real fight."
JUST SUGGESTIONS
Mike Robinson, the city's director of redevelopment, said the
committee's suggestions for the area are just that: suggestions. The
