Artesia City Council Sets Redevelopment Plans

Artesia laid out its plans to deal with the assets of its dissolved Redevelopment Agency during the Artesia City Council meeting last Monday.

Like many other agencies throughout the state, the Artesia Redevelopment Agency ceased to exist as of February 1st, leaving cities to decide whether to enforce payments and manage projects already in place.

Assistant city manager Justine Menzel told Patch that while the city will uphold its obligation payments of the former agency, many of its projects such as the City's downtown adjacent parking lot improvement plan will be placed on hold after demolition.

“We’re going to have to look for alternative means of funding these projects,” said Menzel. “Things will be delayed as a result of Sacramento’s decision.”

The successor agency’s duties will include managing the assets and responsibilities of the former Artesia Redevelopment Agency and will also include a seven-member oversight panel which will review its obligated payments. Two of the panel members were appointed by the City.

The Council appointed City Manager Maria Dadian and Finance Department employee Katherine Wardle to the panel.

Council Approves City Plaza Modifications

The Council finally approved modifications for the City Plaza development near the intersection of South Street and Pioneer Boulevard.

Artesia Partners LLC, the company that owns the strip mall, has asked the City Council for approval to make modifications--including reducing the minimum square footage for tenants--to their site in order to attract more professional space. Technicalities and council member concerns have delayed a decision until now.

Due to complaints from a neighboring trailer park, one of the conditions for approval was that the developers had to move their trash enclosure to another location in the property.

Another proposal to withhold final approval of the modification until restaurants in the strip mall installed filters to fix the problem with odors and airborne grease did not have full approval of the Council but suggested more air quality testing to determine which restaurants are responsible for such emissions.

Residents of Le Belle Chateau trailer park said that the development has made the quality of life difficult as odors and oil from the trash site, the restaurants, and the fish market have spread to their homes.

“Now we have cooking odors, we have smells 24/7, we can’t open our doors and I’m affected by the market right behind me,” said Dody Bedingfield, representing the trailer park.

In addition to the odors, Bedingfield also complained about a number of rat infestations at the trailer park and suggested that the City Plaza development could have something to do with the migration.

Laurie McMahon, speaking on behalf of Artesia Partners LLC, said that while she acknowledges the problems with the odors coming from the restaurants and the trash sites, the entire property, including the fish market and restaurants, have pest control.

“I do know that when the health inspector was at the market…he had been called out because of rats and he saw no signs of them in the market,” she told the Council.

After approval, the City Plaza proposal will be placed on the Council agenda in 90 days to review the outcome of the air quality testing.

The next scheduled Artesia City Council meeting is on March 12th at 7 p.m. at Artesia City Hall.