TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

While two new affordable housing projects opened this month in Bakersfield, the city's Redevelopment Agency is holding back on making plans for future projects until the state Supreme Court decides if the state can effectively end redevelopment agencies.

At a meeting with Redevelopment Agency board members Monday, Economic Development Director Donna Kunz said, "Basically we can't conduct any new business or make any significant changes to our existing contracts. ... So until this gets resolved, you may not see as much activity coming before you."

A city attorney said it's difficult to predict what the state Supreme Court will do.

"It wasn't a slam dunk at all," Joshua Rudnick told board members of the oral arguments the state Supreme Court heard last week. "I think it wasn't a clear majority or a clear minority on this one. Just whoever spoke, the judges had comments and criticisms. ... But it was really hard to tell which judges were in favor of one side or the other.

"We'll wait and see," Rudnick said. "The court has to make a decision by Jan. 15, 2012. Hopefully they'll make it a lot sooner (and give) us a little bit more time to plan and set up."

In the meantime, Larry Koman, the agency's chair, said the two openings of affordable housing in Bakersfield have made a difference.

At the opening of Baker Street Village, an affordable housing development of apartments and lofts, Koman said he talked to a disabled veteran who had moved back home to Bakersfield after living in Texas.

"He was virtually homeless and somehow got into the system and they said they were going to get him an apartment," Koman said. "He basically feels like he has a New York City loft. He's got a big plate-glass window looks up and down Baker Street. ... He's from Bakersfield so he wanted to come home. It was just an awesome experience for him."

That project was begun by the Bakersfield Redevelopment Agency but eventually turned over to the Kern County Housing Authority, though the Bakersfield Agency still has $4.3 million invested in the project, he said.

And at the opening last week of Cityplace, an affordable housing apartment complex, a resident told Koman she had been living with her son but that his place wasn't well suited to her being able to move around in her motorized chair.

"That was very nice to be able to talk to these people and see them benefitting from those things," Koman said. "They're really appreciative of the work you've done," he told Kunz.

But, as for the state Supreme Court's deliberations, Koman said, "We'll just wait and see now. It's all we can do."

Bakersfield residents are starting to see the impact of redevelopment at the very moment it's being threatened, said agency member Philip Bentley.

"Now we have redevelopment being punished by the state, but I think people now are really understanding (redevelopment)," Bentley said. While sometimes housing projects may be overlooked by the public, projects like the recent improvements to Q Street generate lots of positive responses, he said.