Politics & Government
Council OKs San Pablo Avenue Land Sale
The El Cerrito City Council decided Monday night to sell a prime corner of land to come up with enough money to save the city's Redevelopment Agency.
To keep the city’s local Redevelopment Agency, El Cerrito may have to pay the state $1.84 million. “Basically we take this, pay our ransom to the state to keep the Redevelopment Agency,” said Mayor ProTem Bill Jones at Monday’s city council meeting.
Jones, presiding in the absence of Mayor Ann Cheng, was referring to the City Council's 4-to-0 vote Monday night to sell about an acre of land near the del Norte BART station — at the corner of Hill Street and San Pablo Avenue in what is now the Safeway parking lot. The city recently acquired the parcel in the deal to bring Safeway to the former Target site.
El Cerrito had planned to develop the corner as an Redevelopment Agency project, but according to the staff report to the council, the bad economy makes development challenging. At the same time, the city would need $1.84 million to keep its Redevelopment Agency, if the state Supreme Court decides in favor of the state in a over state plans to make cities pay to retain their Redevelopment Agencies.
In the deal approved by the council, Safeway's subsidiary, Property Development Centers, will buy the parcel from the city for $1.85 million to develop on its own.
The plan made sense to Councilwoman Rebecca Benassini, who said the city had always planned to turn the parcel over to private developers and that the sale to Safeway could produce development faster than would be realized through a public-private process.
The city has not decided the fate of the El Cerrito Redevelopent Agency. Councilman Greg Lyman said the council's action is consistent with keeping its options open.
