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� 9� 9 <br /> O � G qnKr uf <br /> e <br /> � �`' i <br /> M : <br /> . + <br /> . o <br /> ���rrOf SAM�� <br /> Issue � Background � Findings � Conclusions � Recommendations � Responses � Attachments <br /> Treatment of Property Owners in Redwood City <br /> Redevelopment Project <br /> Issue <br /> Did the Redwood City Redevelopment Agency give fair and equitable treatment to the <br /> property owners who were evicted by the Retail/Cinema Complex development project? <br /> Summary <br /> The use of eminent domain in redevelopment projects has long been an emotionally and <br /> politically charged issue since private property is the very foundation of our free society. <br /> The United States Constitution declares in no uncertain terms that "nor shall private <br /> property Ue taken for puUlic use, without just compensation." <br /> In 2003, the Redwood City Redevelopment Agency (RDA) condemned a set of parcels to <br /> allow a private developer to build a privately owned retail/cinema development project, <br /> known as the RetaiUCinema Complex, on the site. The focus of the Grand Jury <br /> investigation was not in the complex details of the condemnation, but rather in the <br /> reported insensitive treatment by the RDA of several of the property owners who were <br /> displaced. The Grand Jury wanted to ascertain whether these property owners had <br /> "suffered disproportionate injuries" in the course of the eminent domain negotiations. <br /> After receiving several complaints, the Grand Jury conducted interviews with personnel <br /> from the Redwood City Community Development Services Department and with some of <br /> the property owners displaced by the project. In addition, the Grand Jury noted several <br /> articles and letters to the editor appearing in local newspapers that were critical of the <br /> manner in which the RDA exercised the power of eminent domain. Although several <br /> years have passed since the eminent domain negotiations, the property owners still felt <br /> bruised enough by the experience to express their resentment somewhat emotionally. <br /> They believed that they had not been treated with respect and that they had been <br /> mistreated both by the time delays of the proceedings as well as by the intense pressure � <br /> placed on them to settle. <br /> 1 <br /> _ _ __ _ .___ _ <br /> __ _ <br />