Look at redevelopment plan delayed

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003 | 9:22 a.m.

The Henderson City Council has delayed action until Jan. 20 on a proposed ordinance to update an 8-year-old redevelopment plan to include condemning single-family homes in the downtown area.

Several people showed up at a meeting Tuesday night to speak on the matter, but city redevelopment officials decided instead to hold the item to give its staff more time to discuss it.

The bill will be reintroduced at the Jan. 6 meeting of the City Council, which acts as the Redevelopment Agency. No discussion is slated at that time, Henderson spokeswoman Vicki Taylor said. A public hearing is expected to be set for Jan. 20, she said.

When the downtown redevelopment area was designated in 1995, the city included a provision that protected single-family homes on land zoned for residential uses from the looser eminent domain requirements of a redevelopment area.

The city already has eminent domain power citywide for projects determined to be of significant public interest, such as a road widening. In redevelopment areas the city has additional power to use eminent domain to force the purchase of properties identified as important for the overall public good of the city.