FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROSELAND REDEVELOPMENT AREA
On November 27, 1984, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
approved the Redevelopment Plan for the Roseland Redevelopment Project.
The following questions and answers provide information about redevelopment,
in general, and the Roseland Redevelopment Project, specifically. If you
should have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Redevelopment Manager, at (707) 565-7508.
What is redevelopment?
Why do we have redevelopment? What is it for?
Where does the money for redevelopment come from?
Will redevelopment raise my property taxes?
Who governs the Roseland Redevelopment Project?
What is the Roseland Redevelopment Plan’s
intent?
Does being in a redevelopment project area mean
the redevelopment agency can take my house away from me?
Does the Roseland Redevelopment Project afford any
opportunity for cooperative projects with private developers, homeowners,
non-profits or others?
What is redevelopment?
Stated simply, redevelopment is the reinvestment of local property
tax dollars in the community from which they came, under local control,
according to a locally approved plan. This simple statement covers
a lot of important ground, however. “Reinvestment of local property
tax dollars” means that funds identified for the Roseland Redevelopment
Project can only be spent for the benefit of the Roseland Redevelopment
Project Area. “Under local control” means that all of the
decision making for how the project’s funds will be spent will be
made locally, not in Sacramento or Washington, D.C. “According to
a locally approved plan” refers to the general provisions of the
Plan approved by the Board of Supervisors and the detailed plans to be
developed and approved through the process of local citizen/elected official/County
staff interaction.
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Why do we have redevelopment? What is
it for?
The law governing community redevelopment resides in the Health
and Safety section of the California Constitution. At its roots, then,
redevelopment is about improving the health and safety conditions and,
consequently, quality of life in a designated project area. Redevelopment
focuses on eliminating “blighting conditions,” a broadly defined
term that can refer to physical conditions, economic conditions or social
conditions, which adversely affect the local community. Redevelopment
is also focused on the preservation and expansion of employment and affordable
housing opportunities.
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Where does the money for redevelopment
come from?
Funding for redevelopment projects comes from a dedication of
part of the property taxes that are paid on parcels in the designated
redevelopment project area. The Redevelopment Project shares in the growth
of property tax revenues over the life of the project, typically forty-five
years, along with the County, school districts, fire districts and other
taxing entities that receive part of the property taxes.
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Will redevelopment raise my property
taxes?
Redevelopment agencies are not “taxing entities.”
They have no authority to levy additional taxes. Property taxes are based
on assessed value. Proposition 13, passed by California voters in 1978,
limits property taxes to one percent of the assessed value per year and
limits the increase in property value assessment to no more than two percent
per year. Typically, the assessed value of a property changes when it
is sold, developed or rehabilitated.
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Who governs the Roseland Redevelopment
Project?
The members of the Board of Supervisors, acting in their capacity
as members of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission (CDC),
are responsible for the Roseland Redevelopment Project in partnership
with the City of Santa Rosa. The County of Sonoma has been responsible
for administering the Roseland Redevelopment Project Area since 1984.
Currently, about 55% of the Project Area is in unincorporated County territory
and 45% of the Project Area is within the City's boundaries. The Sonoma
County Redevelopment Agency, activated in 1984 with the formation of the
Roseland Redevelopment Project, is a division of the CDC; its Executive
Director is the Executive Director of the CDC. CDC staff, including the
Redevelopment Manager and Redevelopment Associate, provides primary support
to the Project.
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What is the Roseland Redevelopment Plan’s
intent?
A redevelopment plan is the legal document that describes the
general purposes, goals, authorities and limitations for redevelopment
in a designated project area. It does not identify specific projects but,
rather, provides a framework for the redevelopment process. The primary
objective of the Roseland Plan has been to improve the area’s infrastructure,
primarily Sebastopol Road. The Project’s focus is now being turned
to affordable housing and mixed-use development opportunities.
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Does being in a redevelopment project
area mean the redevelopment agency can take my house away from me?
The Roseland Redevelopment Project has no authority for the “taking”
of any property (i.e., exercise of eminent domain authority).
The Sonoma County community Redevelopment Agency had eminent domain authority in the Roseland Redevelopment Project Area, but this authority expoired in 1996. Since the Sonoma County Community Redevelopment Agency was formed in 1975, it has never exercised eminent domain
authority in any of its redevelopment project areas.
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Does the Roseland Redevelopment Project
afford any opportunity for cooperative projects with private developers,
homeowners, non-profits or others?
California Redevelopment Law anticipates that redevelopment agencies
alone cannot accomplish the objectives of project area plans. The Roseland
Redevelopment Plan includes specific provisions for working with business
owners, business tenants, landowners, homeowners, landlords, non-profit
organizations, and other government agencies in order to achieve the goals
of the Project.
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