El Segundo ready to fight proposed MTA rail yard - ContraCostaTimes.com
El Segundo ready to fight proposed MTA rail yard
By Andrea Woodhouse
Posted: 11/15/2009 06:02:19 AM PST
Updated: 11/16/2009 11:03:24 AM PST
El Segundo city officials are seething over a county pitch to build a train maintenance facility in town as part of an estimated $1.7 billion proposed light rail project.
And leaders of tiny El Segundo, a scrappy town if there ever was one, have all but promised to sue should the Metropolitan Transportation Authority proceed with plans for a rail yard near the corner of Rosecrans Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard.
"I am confident that I'll have full support of my colleagues should litigation be necessary," Mayor Kelly McDowell said.
The facility - envisioned for about 15 acres of a former industrial site now designated as the second phase of megashopping center Plaza El Segundo - is an element of a large-scale mass transit project designed to ease freeway congestion in the Crenshaw Corridor and improve access to Los Angeles International Airport.
Following an MTA planning committee hearing this week, the agency's board of directors is set next month to adopt the plan, giving staff the go-ahead to begin hashing out the project's details before final certification of its environmental analysis in about a year, said Roderick Diaz, the project manager.
Among those details is the maintenance yard's location, which he emphasized has not been finalized.
"The big thing is there is no firm decision being made at this point," Diaz said. "It may require us to have the flexibility to look at another site. Nonetheless, as it is
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necessary, we can't proceed forward with the project without (a maintenance facility)."
MTA staffers have recommended the El Segundo maintenance yard location rather than another spot also previously considered near Florence and Manchester avenues that would have displaced the Westchester Playhouse.
But El Segundo officials have argued the proposed site in town is inconsistent with surrounding commercial use, and could have significant environmental impacts, such as noise and air pollution.
"We've got two power plants, a giant sewage treatment plant, and we're next door to an airport," McDowell said. "It's time for government agencies and others to stop dumping these awful uses into the city of El Segundo. We have done our part."
Though the project's draft environmental analysis states that the facility's actual size would be determined later, the stand-alone facility would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
MTA envisions the facility between two railroad tracks on the northeast corner of Rosecrans and Sepulveda - land currently slated for future commercial development.
Dan Crosser, one of the developers of the property, said owners have remained mostly "passive" about the project since the MTA initially expressed interest in the land about a year ago.
He said it is too early to comment on whether owners would be amenable to the sale - though their agreement may be irrelevant in the long run.
"(MTA) might have to make a finding to condemn the property," Crosser said, adding that he was aware of El Segundo's displeasure with the proposal. "I'm not sure we would have a choice."
The first batch of Plaza El Segundo's 425,000 square feet of retail shops - including Whole Foods, Best Buy, Borders and PetSmart - began opening in late 2006.
Since then, smaller chain retailers such as J. Crew and Banana Republic have filled out the development, and others, including Linens `N' Things, have closed.
As part of the project's second phase, developers hoped luxury, upscale boutiques would grace the 110-acre property south of Plaza El Segundo by 2008 - but Crosser said development is indefinitely delayed until the economy improves.
Still, El Segundo would at least like the possibility of eventual revenue from the site, an impossibility with an MTA maintenance facility, McDowell said.
"I would rather see a slaughterhouse than the rail yard because it brings more benefit to the city," he said. "At least it would pay taxes."
After several rounds of public hearings in recent months, MTA staffers have recommended the board move forward with an eight-milelong light rail option, rather than a less expensive bus line.
With at least seven stations between the Baldwin Hills- Crenshaw area and LAX, the Measure R-funded project is touted as a way to provide relief to the San Diego (405) and Harbor (110) freeways, as well as improve airport access by connecting the Metro Green Line to the south and the Expo line to the north.
Expected to generate up to 7,800 jobs, the project's final design and construction would begin in 2011 and last up to six years, with the system operational in 2018.
County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose district includes many of the South Bay's inland communities, called the selection of the light rail plan as a preferred option a "big victory" for residents.
Supervisor Don Knabe, whose district includes El Segundo and is currently first vice chair of the MTA board, has not yet taken a position on the maintenance facility's location, a spokesman said.
"It's too preliminary to get into something like that," David Sommers said. "Don's priority is getting the Crenshaw Line built. This is going to connect to the South Bay, to LAX. This is a critical project."
Sommers added that the supervisor would likely take a position on the yard's location once more project details were finalized.
But El Segundo is preparing now for a fight.
No stranger to taking on bigger dogs, the city spent millions of dollars battling LAX modernization plans, ultimately in late 2005 winning more than $70 million to insulate homes against airport noise.
"El Segundo is not afraid of environmental litigation, and anyone doubting that can take a look at our record concerning the airport," McDowell said. "This is the reason that there is no blinking at the City Council level about opposing MTA and this project."
McDowell also hoped to garner support from neighboring Manhattan Beach, which he believes would also be affected by a maintenance yard immediately north of its Rosecrans border.
But neither Manhattan's mayor nor its city manager knew much about the light rail project. And it appeared unlikely that the city would fight to protect El Segundo's commercial development options, considering that Manhattan Beach sued over Plaza El Segundo in the first place.
Though the suit won Manhattan about $3 million in street improvements, a general air of displeasure over the large shopping center sitting just a block away from Manhattan Beach's mall lingers.
"Originally, they were going to steal our retail," City Manager Geoff Dolan said. "That's probably why they are upset."
Coming up?
Here's a look at some of the proposed facility's other features:
A storage yard that can accommodate 60 light rail vehicles, with an adjacent 50,000-square-foot office building with 200 parking spaces.
A maintenance area for five light-rail vehicles, as well as a 5,000-square-foot maintenance building for daily servicing, repairs and other support needs.
A 5,000-square-foot paint and body shop with sheet metal, welding and paint storage area.
As a second floor to part of the maintenance building, a 15,000-square-foot operations center would house rail operations, maintenance and training. This element would have its own 100-space parking facility.
A 4,000-square-foot rail vehicle-cleaning platform, and a 7,500-square-foot car-wash building.
Andrea.woodhouse@dailybreeze.com
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