Gold Line Appeals Ruling, Denies Acting Illegally

The Gold Line Construction Authority (GLCA) appealed a Superior Court and claimed the judge's decision issued last month was based on "erroneous facts."

Superior Court Judge Ann Jones ruled on Dec. 29 that the GLCA violated environmental law in clearing the way for a rail maintenance yard in Monrovia, a crucial piece of the Foothill Extension needed for the project to continue.

Jones wrote that an alternative site for the maintenance yard in Irwindale was insufficent because it was not actually inside the project area, but officials from the transportation agency insist the judge erred in her interpretation of the facts.

"The basis of the court’s ruling was on the factual inaccuracy that the alternative site evaluated for the project’s maintenance facility in the (environmental impact report) was outside the Pasadena to Azusa project area, when in reality it sits directly along the alignment,” GLCA CEO Habib F. Balian wrote in a written statement. “We are confident that this misunderstanding will be worked out and this issue resolved quickly."

In its appeal filed this week, the GLCA asked Jones to reconsider her ruling in a special hearing before she issues a final ruling. If the court does not comply, the GLCA will file a motion to vacate the judge's ruling, it said in a news release.

In addition to concluding that the Irwindale site was outside the scope of the Foothill Extension's first project phase, Jones said in her ruling that the GLCA did not "adequately analyze" the Irwindale site in its first environmental study. The agency's statement did not address this aspect of the judge's ruling.

The judge's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Monrovia property owner George Brokate, who has in an effort to keep his property on Evergreen Avenue from being condemed.

GLCA officials have declined to comment on what the ruling will mean if it is upheld, but if the agency was forced to repeat the environmental study process, its to build the Foothill Extension would presumably be voided.