Redevelopment is one of the most powerful tools a local government can use to turn around a run-down neighborhood. It is also one of the most feared and misunderstood.

In the jargon of urban planners, the term "redevelopment" has a very specific meaning. It is the process by which local governments exercise a broad range of powers to eliminate blight--whether a failing downtown or a neighborhood of sagging apartments.

Originally, redevelopment meant eradicating the blight of unsafe slums, but cities have stretched the definition of blight to include anything from irregular lot sizes to neighborhoods losing population.

Perhaps the easiest way to think about redevelopment is as a bundle of powers. The two most important: condemning private property for new development and keeping property tax revenue that otherwise would be shared with other government agencies.

Although the intent of redevelopment--reviving declining neighborhoods--is noble, its implementation in neighborhoods across Southern California often has been greeted with suspicion and hostility.

How It Works

* Boundaries: Local government establishes "survey area" to be redeveloped.

* Blight: The redevelopment agency formally finds that the survey area is blighted and in need of repair.

* Mapping: Project area map is drawn up.

* Standards: Development standards are formulated, regulating how new projects will be built.

* Financing: Financing is arranged, generally through bond issues guaranteed by future tax revenues.

* Oversight: Citizens advisory committee formed to oversee implementation.

* Time: Project areas remain in effect for 20 to 35 years. During this time, the redevelopment agency uses its powers of tax-increment financing and eminent domain to arrange private projects for the area.

Eminent Domain

The most feared tool of a redevelopment agency is its power of eminent domain--or its ability to seize property from unwilling sellers. Traditionally, eminent domain is to acquire land for schools, roads and other public projects, but it can also be used to cobble together large parcels of land needed for big projects like supermarkets or shopping malls or car dealerships.

But a redevelopment agency can condemn property even if the final owner of the land will be a private developer. Eminent domain laws require the government to pay property owners fair market value as determined by a jury.