Lakewood : Planners Slated to Act on 2nd Redevelopment Zone

Plans for a new redevelopment zone are moving ahead in Lakewood as the Planning Commission decides tonight whether to recommend that the City Council adopt a draft environmental impact report on the proposed zone.

Known as Project Area 2, the proposed redevelopment zone, which would be Lakewood’s second, takes in 15 small sites throughout the city that total almost 160 acres. Among the sites would be the old Chevron crude oil tank farm off Downey Avenue in the northwest corner of the city.

Most of the sites in the zone, however, are small commercial areas that city planners and officials want upgraded in an effort to retain a strong sales tax base, said Charles Ebner, director of the Community Development Department.

In some cases, he said, it may be necessary for the city to exercise eminent domain in order to condemn and consolidate some small parcels into larger sites that would be more easily upgraded by developers. Ebner said the council is expected to create the new redevelopment zone by June.