Economic Development and Redevelopment A toolkit for building healthy, vibrant communities Economic Development and Redevelopment A toolkit for building healthy, vibrant communities Written by Lisa M. Feldstein, Rick Jacobus, and Hannah Burton Laurison Illustrations by Janet Cleland Cover and graphic design by Karen Parry | Black Graphics © 2007 California Department of Health Services This publication is provided for general information only and is not offered or intended as legal advice. Readers should seek the advice of an attorney when confronted with legal issues, and attorneys should perform an independent evaluation of the issues raised in these materials. Funded by the California Department of Health Services, through the California Nutrition Network for Healthy, Active Families. II Economic Development and Redevelopment Acknowledgements This toolkit could not have been completed without the assistance of many people, a few of whom are listed below. Thanks to the Cancer Prevention and Nutrition Section of the California State Department of Health Services for generously underwriting this publication. Thanks also to Marice Ashe, Melissa Guajardo, Jeremy Hofer, Thomas Mills, Robert “Perl” Perlmutter, Valerie Quinn, and Carrie Spector for their careful reading and thoughtful comments. Thanks to Marice Ashe, Heather Wooten, and Heather Kinsman for being terrific resources. Thanks also to Heather Wooten and Eduardo Rocha for their research assistance. Thanks to Janet Cleland, Karen Parry, and Carrie Spector for illustrating, designing, kibitzing, and producing this resource. Finally, much gratitude to Marice Ashe, Sue Foerster, Matthew Marsom, and Valerie Quinn, whose vision, foresight, and advocacy made this toolkit possible. III IV Economic Development and Redevelopment Contents Section I 1 Introduction to this Toolkit 1 2 The Connection Between Economic Development and Health 3 3 Why Do So Many Communities Lack Access to Healthy Food? 7 Some History 7 Current Challenges 8 4 Developing a Strategy 15 Supermarket Development 15 Pro f i le : Partners Through Food (Rochester, NY) 17 Small Store Development 19 Pro f i le : City Produce (San Francisco, CA) 21 Corner Store Improvement 23 Mobile Markets 25 Pro f i le : People’s Grocery (Oakland, CA) 27 Farmers’ Markets 29 Pro f i le : Del Paso Heights Community Farmers’ Market (Sacramento, CA) 31 Section II 5 What Is Community Economic Development? 35 Rebuilding the Market for Healthy Food 36 V 6 Types of Community Economic Development Programs 39 Firm-Based Strategies 40 Place-Based Strategies 41 People-Based Strategies 42 7 Economic Development Institutions 45 Local Government Economic Development Agencies 45 Small Business Assistance Agencies 45 Economic Development Corporations 46 Community Development Corporations 46 Job Training and Placement Agencies 46 Business Organizations 47 8 Financing Sources 49 Local Government 49 State Government 50 Federal Government 51 Community Development Financial Institutions 52 Private Foundations 52 Private Banks 53 Section III 9 Overview of Redevelopment Law 55 What Is Redevelopment? 55 How Did We Get Here? A Brief History of Redevelopment Law in California 56 10 Legal Requirements for Redevelopment 59 What Are the Legal Requirements for a Redevelopment Agency? 59 What Can a Redevelopment Agency Do? 60 What Are the Legal Requirements for a Redevelopment Plan? 61 What Are the Legal Requirements for Establishing a Redevelopment Project Area? 63 What Are the Legal Requirements for Implementing a Redevelopment Plan? 65 VI Economic Development and Redevelopment 11 Introduction to Tax Increment Financing 67 What Is Tax Increment Financing? 67 Pro f i le : City Without a Supermarket (East Palo Alto, CA) 69 How Does Tax Increment Financing Work? A Hypothetical Scenario 71 12 Introduction to Eminent Domain 73 What Is Eminent Domain? 73 The Changing Landscape 74 Pro f i le : Redeveloping a Downtown District (Richmond, CA) 76 13 Support for Economic Development Projects 79 Eminent Domain 79 Land Access 79 Grants 80 Loans 81 Infrastructure Improvements 82 Other Incentives 82 14 Final Points 85 Section IV 15 Building Community Support 87 Identifying Interested Parties 87 Potential Motivators 90 16 Data Collection 93 The Problem at a State and National Level 94 Local Health Concerns 94 Local Food Access 95 Evaluating Economic Opportunities 101 Retail MarketPlace Profile 104 Hiring a Market Research Firm 105 Consumer Surveys 106 VII 17 Model Redevelopment Resolution 107 18 Communicating with Public Officials 109 Communicating with Your Elected/Appointed Officials and Public Agency Staff 109 Section V Appendix 1 Sample Market Research Consultant Request for Proposals 113 Appendix 2 Redevelopment Agency Model Resolution 117 Appendix 3 Resources 119 VIII Economic Development and Redevelopment Section I 1 Introduction to this Toolkit This toolkit is the second in a series exploring ways for advocates to create healthier communities by transforming the built environment. The first toolkit focuses on the use of general plans and zoning1 – where success often means new language in a general plan or a revised zoning designation that allows community gardens, for example. But those types of changes in local ordi- nances may not translate to changes on the ground for many years, if at all. In order to take the next step toward improved food access in low-income communities, you must look at the local economic landscape and consider how tools for enhancing that landscape can be applied. You must begin to consider economic development and redevelopment. This toolkit is designed for nutrition and other public health advocates who need additional resources – beyond zoning and general plan revisions – to improve food access in low-income neighborhoods. It provides a fundamen- tal, introductory understanding of the economic development and redevelop- ment tools available, and explores ways to effectively participate in decisions about their use. These tools offer opportunities that could include enhancing the offerings of retail outlets to include healthier foods, bringing in locally owned businesses that offer healthy foods, attracting full-service grocery stores, and developing farmers’ markets and community gardens. Section I provides a basic introduction to the connection between economic development and health. This section offers an overview of the concepts of economic development and identifies how economic development can be used as a tool to increase healthy food retailing in underserved communities. Section II describes a variety of programs and resources that support economic development. These include programs administered at the federal, state, and local level, as well as nonprofit and other private resources. Section III focuses on California redevelopment, which is a state-defined legal and financing structure for revitalizing blighted neighborhoods. This section explains the law, including how, where, and under what circum- stances it can be applied. In addition to learning about redevelopment, you will find information about how to get involved in the creation of redevelop- ment areas as well as participating in decisions about existing areas. Introduction to this Toolkit 1 Section IV discusses the types of data you will need to collect to make a case for change, how best to present that data, and how to identify partners and build coalitions for success. Section V includes sample documents as well as a resource guide and bibliography to help you find more detailed materials on specific topics. This toolkit is meant to be a living document. As food industry trends change and new economic development resources become available – and as advocates like you are successful in utilizing these tools to change the food environment in your communities – this toolkit will grow and change. Updates and new materials will be posted on our website: www.healthyplanning.org. Check frequently for new ideas! 1 L. Feldstein, General Plans and Zoning: A Toolkit on Land Use and Health, Public Health Institute (2006). 2 Economic Development and Redevelopment 2 The Connection Between Economic Development and Health Obesity – caused by poor diet and physical inactivity – is arguably the leading public health challenge facing California today. Left unchecked, the impact of increasing obesity rates will be devastating in both public health and economic terms. In addition to the increased individual risk for heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, and some cancers, the combined annual costs of obesity-related chronic disease risk factors in California reach $21.68 billion a year, attributed to medical care ($10.16 billion, of which $2.28 billion, or 22.44 percent, is MediCal payments for low-income people), lost employee productivity ($11.2 billion), and workers compensation ($338 million).1 Multiple factors have been associated with the recent obesity epidemic,2 but the marked increase in the prevalence of obesity appears to be in large part attributable to environmental conditions that implicitly discourage physical activity while encouraging the consumption of greater quantities of energy-dense, low-nutrient foods.3 Leading environmental risk factors for diet-related disease include: 4 Lack of access to healthy foods: Public health researchers document the lack of access to healthy foods as a major contributing factor to obesity Feldstein M. and poor eating. According to a recent study by the University of North Lisa by Carolina, the more supermarkets a neighborhood has,