LANCASTER : Funds Allocated for Clean-Up Campaign

Lancaster’s redevelopment agency has allocated $1.25 million to launch “Operation High Desert Storm,” a recently announced campaign to clean up a decaying, crime-ridden neighborhood along Cedar Avenue north of Avenue I.

City Council members, acting as redevelopment directors, voted 3 to 0 Monday night to transfer the money from another project, a planned mobile home park on city-owned property at 30th Street East and Avenue I. Future city housing funds will be used to reimburse that project, officials said.

The city plans to spend part of the $1.25 million to buy four looted and abandoned four-unit apartment buildings on Cedar Avenue, two from a private owner and two from the federal Housing and Urban Development Department. The city also plans a loan program to help property owners rehabilitate nearby apartments.