The Oxbow District is where the fears and promise of a new city redevelopment project hit the pavement.

This is an enclave of sparkling Queen Anne Victorians, rundown cottages, condemned shanties, one of Napa's last self-serve car washes and old service stations that are more likely in the future to pump lattes than gas.

It's also home to wine-celebrating Copia, the soon-to-open Oxbow Public Market and several dozen older businesses that may soon have a Ritz-Carlton hotel as their neighbor.

"I'm one of those people who can close my eyes and see what can happen here versus what's now going on," said Jimmy Fleming, a golf instructor who gives high-tech indoor lessons next to a closed car repair shop that's for sale.

"It's all in flux, but a nice flux," Fleming said of his neighborhood. "I notice a lot of people waiting to put their business here."

Jon Sevigny, the sommelier at JV Wine & Spirits, which recently moved into upgraded facilities at First Street and Silverado Trail, sees a neighborhood with its worst days behind it. Blight is disappearing, but there is still plenty of work to do, he said.

"We do flood a lot," Sevigny said. "That's not real attractive, moving into a flood zone."

Here's where redevelopment would come into play, said Jennifer LaLiberté, senior project coordinator for the city of Napa's redevelopment agency.

The new project would cure many of the area's infrastructure deficiencies, including bad roads and sidewalks and overland runoff that would continue to flood the Soscol Gateway after river flood control is done, LaLiberté said.

Over the next 40 years, the city intends to siphon off $88 million (in today's dollars) from the area's property tax assessments. This money would be used to improve public facilities serving 376 acres stretching from Imola Avenue to north of First.

At a Napa City Council public hearing earlier in October, more than two dozen residents and merchants voiced fears about redevelopment. At a special meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m., the council is scheduled to vote the project up or down.

The public's concerns -- fear that the city will take homes, push ugly multi-family housing into historic areas and raze blighted properties -- will be responded to at length, LaLiberté said.

Jon Huttinger, owner of a restored, 148-year-old Victorian at Juarez and Second streets, harbored fears that redevelopment would harm his historic neighborhood.

"We're all for the street improvements, the sidewalk improvements, even the flood improvements for Auto Row. What we're opposed to are the four-story, low-income buildings," said Huttinger, citing reports that his neighborhood might be targeted with high-density housing.

His concerns were addressed when he and a half dozen neighbors met last week with city staff, Mayor Jill Techel and Councilwoman Juliana Inman, Huttinger said. "The mood was very positive."

Officials pledged not to violate the historic integrity of his neighborhood, while promising redevelopment funds to upgrade the public right of way, he said.

Fears of eminent domain -- the city's ability to take private property for public purpose -- are being addressed. "We've altered the language to say we will not take any residences, period," LaLiberté said.

Some front yards, particularly along Silverado, may have to be shaved back for sidewalks someday, but there will be no taking of homes, she said.

High-rise housing was never part of redevelopment plans for the Oxbow District, LaLiberté said. Multi-family housing up to four stories is contemplated around a new transit center on Burnell Street, LaLiberté said. Additional multi-family zoning on three blocks of Third Street, east of the railroad tracks, has become a hot button issue with Oxbow District residents. In response, staff will offer the council other options, including dropping this proposal altogether, she said.

"Anytime there's change, there's a lot of fear," said Dale Harbison, owner of Harbison's Appliance on Third near Silverado Trail. Because the city's downtown urban renewal plan in the 1970s did not achieve what it promised, the very word redevelopment "brings failure to mind," he said.

Harbison is willing to accept city promises that this redevelopment project will be different. Instead of packaging private property for sale to developers, the city this time will focus on flooding and road improvements, leaving it up to private enterprise to do the rest.

"It makes sense for the most part," Harbison said. "There's a hodge-podge on Soscol. Can it be fixed? I know private owners can (fix it)."

Like many, Harbison said he was surprised to learn that the Napa River flood control project won't cure his area's flooding problems. There will still be runoff from the hills that will pond up to three feet deep on Auto Row.

Solving the runoff issue would be a boon for Soscol area businesses, Napa Valley Expo and Gasser Foundation plans for housing, stores and offices between Soscol and the river.

Dorothy Glaros, a lifelong Napan who owns seven rental homes on Silverado, south of the Expo, is a skeptic. "It's not going to correct the flooding. I'm a realist," she said.

The city should back off and let the private sector solve infrastructure problems as best they can, said Glaros, who fears losing some of her Silverado frontage to road improvements.

To her eye, the Soscol Gateway area -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- is mostly fine as is. It has "character," she said. "It's revitalizing itself on its own."

While the area is dotted with new construction, LaLiberté said, private investment is a fraction of what it could be if the area's flooding and other infrastructure problems were solved.

State law requires that the city document substantial economic and physical blight before it can create a redevelopment project. The Soscol Gateway more than meets the blight requirements, with scores of examples of dilapidation, structural obsolescence, antiquated parcel sizes, incompatible land uses, impaired property values and hazardous materials, LaLiberté said.

"I didn't realize I lived in such a slum," Glaros said pointedly.

Labeling someone's home or business as "blighted" doesn't win the city any friends, City Manager Mike Parness said. "Nobody likes being told they live in a blighted neighborhood. I understand that," he said.

The inventory of blighted properties will not become a hit list, LaLiberté said. Once the redevelopment project is launched, "the blight thing never comes up again. We're not going to make anyone do anything. They can just continue on."

If redevelopment works as proposed, blight will be remedied voluntarily, LaLiberté said. Without the flood threat, property owners will be more willing to upgrade their holdings. The city will also make loans and grants available for improvements, she said.

To protect and improve the integrity of the Oxbow neighborhood, the council is being asked Thursday to commit to forming a historic district or conservation area.

New development would be encouraged to adopt green building techniques and reduce greenhouse gases. Programs to help property owners adopt sustainable practices would be set up.

The Oxbow District is definitely on the move, said Ed Snider, owner of the Java Hut on Silverado Trail. As Napa attracts a more prosperous demographic, more people are willing to invest in this older area, he said.

Over on Juarez Street, a young man, a drywaller by trade, was standing in his front yard, preparing to barbecue chicken. "I love Napa, but it's changed so much I can't afford to raise my four kids here," he said.

The man, who declined to give his name, said he was moving to Redding where the cost of living was cheaper. He can't afford to live in a Ritz-Carlton neighborhood, he said.

"They're just trying to bring more money in," he said. "That's all Napa cares about, it seems."

At the Sparkle Car Wash, Ashley Czimback, 18, was preparing to vacuum her car. This is a good neighborhood, but there are areas that could use some improvement, she said.

The prospect of Taylor Automatic Refresher of St. Helena opening a casual restaurant at Oxbow Public Market thrilled her, Czimback said. She wasn't sure how she felt about the possibility of an upscale Ritz-Carlton.

"It's like turning into Los Gatos or something," she said.