Lake Elsinore Deciding What To Do With 48 Redevelopment Properties

Lake Elsinore is sitting on an inventory of property once designated for redevelopment. Now that redevelopment agencies are a thing of the past, the state wants to know what the city plans to do with its stockpile.

Like all other California cities that had redevelopment agencies, the state is requiring Lake Elsinore to submit a “Long Range Property Management Plan” to the California Department of Finance for the 48 properties once earmarked as “redevelopment.”

The state mandate stems from the abolishment of redevelopment agencies in 2011 by Gov. Jerry Brown. Prior to that, cities acquired land in “blighted” areas to improve neighborhoods, and property taxes generated by the redevelopment projects were mostly kept local. 

Now that is all history, so, per the state, “successor agencies” have been established to manage redevelopment projects currently underway, make payments on enforceable obligations, and dispose of redevelopment assets and properties.

In the City of Lake Elsinore, the successor agency is the city council.

During a special study session Tuesday night, the Lake Elsinore successor agency considered what to do with its inventory of redevelopment properties and provided comments for the “Long Range Property Management Plan" currently being drafted by city staff.

Although no formal action was taken during the session, the city is leaning toward keeping most of the properties. Some of those desired parcels have existing obligations and have already been developed, other properties are vacant land.

Here’s where the successor agency left it Tuesday night:

The city believes all of the below properties serve a governmental purpose and therefore should be retained:

--Lake Elsinore Senior Activities Center

--Lake Elsinore Cultural Center

--The Diamond Stadium

--Several parking lots and alleyways in historic downtown

--Conservation easements totaling just over 19 acres at the lake’s back basin

--Floodways totaling a little over 8 acres near the inlet channel

--A mixed-use 7.26-acre parcel near The Diamond Stadium and the inlet channel

--A half-acre vacant lot that holds a gazebo believed to have great historical significance

There are also parcels the city feels should be retained because of a high potential for quality development that will improve Lake Elsinore. Those properties include:

--Five parcels totaling about 1.5 acres in downtown, including the vacant lot across the street from the Cultural Center. The near-term plan is for the city to pave that latter parcel, although officials acknowledge the long-term plan is to see that site developed. Of the five total parcels, two are zoned commercial mixed-use, while three are designated as high-density residential.

--Five parcels totaling a little over 6 acres off Spring and Limited streets. The land provides a direct link between downtown and the lake and all parcels are zoned residential mixed use.

--12 parcels totaling about 1.2 acres off Spring Street zoned commercial mixed use

--Four parcels on Spring Street totaling nearly 1.5 acres zoned residential mixed use

--A 2.5-acre parcel at Silver and Minthorne streets zoned public institutional

There are some properties the city feels should just be sold. Those include:

--Just under a half-acre in downtown zoned residential mixed use

--Just under a half-acre in downtown on Main Street zoned commercial mixed use

--Just under a half-acre on Ellis Street zoned high-density residential

If sold, a portion of the proceeds from these parcels would come back to the city – approximately 11 percent of every “unencumbered dollar,” according to City Attorney Barbara Leibold.

City staff and Leibold are now working to update the draft management plan based on comments received Tuesday. An updated plan will be submitted to the Oversight Board to the Successor Agency of the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Lake Elsinore, which is scheduled to next meet Oct. 22 at City Hall.