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Residents in North Willow Glen may soon have smoother streets and be the beneficiaries of additional neighborhood improvements despite the redevelopment agency's funding shortage.
The city council, voting as members of the redevelopment agency board, approved a $145 million bond to finance capital improvement in San Jose on Nov. 25 in a 9-1 vote, with Councilman Chuck Reed dissenting.
The money will be targeted at revitalizing downtown, industrial areas and neighborhoods that are part of the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, including the Greater Gardner area.
"We're going to change the curb appeal and make it the kind of place people are proud of," said Redevelopment Agency SNI Manager Kip Harkness.
Plans for redevelopment in the Gardner neighborhood include "major street reconstruction"; redoing sidewalks, curbs and gutters; planting street trees; and adding historical lighting, Harkness said.
After the recent fire at Gardner Academy highlighted that the school is still "the heart of the neighborhood," redevelopers are now planning to link the school, community center and Biebrach Park by adding amenities like lighting and benches to create neighborhood pride, according to Harkness.
In July, the agency will begin working with local businesses in North Willow Glen to improve the storefronts' façades by adding awnings and signage and dealing with any code violations, he added.
Harkness said bond funds would also be spent on Fuller Park to provide "real turf, horseshoe pits, trees, irrigation and benches."
Redevelopment agency projects were ground to a halt with the state government's borrowing of money in 200203 and the decrease in local tax revenues in 200304.
"The state government was looking to balance its budget on the backs of city and county government," said Redevelopment Agency Finance Director David Baum.
The bonds will be issued on Dec. 9, and while there is no guarantee that the entire $145 million will be financed, the agency "has not had a bond issue stopped since 1991" when a community group sued the agency, Baum said.
That bond for $80 million was to finance the continued development of nine San Jose projects. The agency was sued by Santa Clara County and its office of education for concerns over long-term indebtedness and the bond's environmental impact.
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