Basis for Establishing a Redevelopment Project Area

Redevelopment is one of the most effective ways to revitalize areas characterized by adverse physical and economic conditions. Such conditions act as a barrier to investment in the affected areas. Redevelopment focuses attention and financial assistance in an area to reverse the blighting conditions, create jobs, improve businesses and enhance the housing stock. Accordingly, a BVHP Redevelopment Survey Area encompassing roughly 2,500 acres of land was designated in 1995 with the following boundaries: Cesar Chavez Street on the north, U.S. Highway 101 on the west, the shoreline of San Francisco Bay on the west, and the San Francisco County boundary on the south, except for land in the Hunters Point, Bayview Industrial Triangle, India Basin Industrial Park, and the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard redevelopment project areas. Staff recently completed a new field survey of this area and, based on documented blighting conditions, proposed a smaller 1,600-acre BVHP Redevelopment Project Area.

Blighting conditions are adverse physical and economic conditions, as defined in the California Community Redevelopment Lay, including the conditions listed below.

Physical Conditions of Blight

• Buildings in which it is unsafe or unhealthy for people to live or work.

• Factors that prevent or substantially hinder the economically viable use or capacity of buildings or lots.

• Adjacent or nearby uses that are incompatible with each other and which prevent the economic development of those parcels or other portions of the project area.

• The existence of subdivided lots of irregular form and shape and inadequate size for proper usefulness and development that are in multiple ownership.

Economic Conditions of Blight

• Depreciated or stagnant property values or impaired investments.

• Abnormally high business vacancies, abnormally low lease rates, high turnover rates, abandoned buildings, or excessive vacant lots within an area developed for urban use and served by utilities.

• A lack of necessary commercial facilities that are normally found in neighborhoods.

• Residential overcrowding or an excess of bars, liquor stores, or other businesses that cater exclusively to adults that has led to problems of public safety or welfare.

• A high crime rate that constitutes a serious threat to the public safety and welfare.

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