Politics & Government

Stalled Land Sale, Lawsuit Threaten Gold Line Progress

Glendora Mayor and Gold Line Construction Authority Chairman Doug Tessitor says the obstacles in Monrovia are posing serious concerns for the GLCA.

As the city of Monrovia attempts to sell off $40 million of land to the Gold Line Construction Authority (GLCA) to prevent the state from seizing it, the GLCA says the project is in serious threat of losing millions of dollars in delay costs should they fail to secure property for its maintenance and operations facility.

Glendora mayor and chairman of the GLCA Doug Tessitor said the GLCA is hoping votes turn in their favor as Monrovia city council has been intensely mulling a critical sale of a potential facility site. The city has been working with Gold Line officials for months on a plan to bring a to Monrovia--a critical component of the rail project that must be built before the Gold Line Extension project can progress from Arcadia to Azusa. The entire project, including a second phase that runs past Glendora to Montclair, hinges on the development of the maintenance and operations facility, said Tessitor.

Under Los Angeles Metro provisions, the GLCA must acquire 50 percent of the property before they can receive Measure R funds.

Find out what's happening in Glendorawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The facility is a key piece,” said Tessitor.  “If, for some reason, we couldn’t put a deal together, I suppose in the very extreme case, this could stop the Gold Line.”

Tessitor said the GLCA’s major concern is the derailment of the project’s timeline, which is slated to reach Citrus Avenue at the Azusa-Glendora border by 2014. Tessitor said the GLCA estimates that $1 million is lost each day the project is delayed.

Find out what's happening in Glendorawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But staying on track is becoming increasingly difficult, as the GLCA has been struggling to find a suitable location for its rail maintenance yard.

An Irwindale site near the Miller Brewing Company and another in Duarte were dismissed as “not economically viable.”

“When Monrovia stepped up and offered us this site, it was a gift almost from Heaven that would be good for Monrovia, good for the GLCA and good for LA Metro,” said Tessitor.

The GLCA says the deal is critical in keeping the Gold Line on track and preventing the state from taking the city's redevelopment assets under Gov. Jerry Brown's .

The Monrovia City Council called a last-minute special meeting Tuesday to vote on the potential sell. But after a debate, which included sharp written comments from Monrovia Councilman Tom Adams who publicly criticized the sale, the council delayed the vote to an April 5 meeting.

Furthermore, the project is facing a lawsuit from a property owner who seeks to stop the Gold Line from running through his land.

Pasadena lawyer Robert P. Silverstein, who also has a lawsuit against the GLCA pending and recently , alleges that Monrovia officials will breach a 2004 settlement agreement with his client that barred the city from using eminent domain to take his land if they sell city-owned property to the GLCA.

Silverstein's client, George Brokate, owns a strip of property along Evergreen Avenue that the GLCA would need to erect a maintenance yard for the Gold Line. Silverstein said during a special redevelopment agency meeting Tuesday that the City of Monrovia has an obligation “not to cause another to bring an eminent domain action” against Brokate under a 2004 settlement agreement from another lawsuit.

By selling about 12 acres of city-owned land to the GLCA, Monrovia would effectively be allowing the GLCA to use eminent domain against Brokate, Silverstein argues.

Monrovia City Manager Scott Ochoa briefly addressed Silverstein's argument in the meeting, calling it "quite a bit of a stretch" that will have to be litigated in court.

Tessitor acknowledges that there were issues raised within the lawsuit that the GLCA had not been aware of, but indicated that the GLCA did not believe these points impacted their ability to acquire the land.

“As I understand this issue, the construction authority has been doing everything we can to facilitate the purchase of this property so that Monrovia is satisfied, the GLCA gets their project done and everyone is treated fairly,” said Tessitor. “It remains to be seen if that is going to be possible.”

Tessitor said the GLCA is currently reviewing the lawsuit and is continuing to negotiate with the city of Monrovia to secure the property before their May-June deadline.

“We need to try to get this thing nailed down by then. We don’t want to start losing our contractors and have our timeline slip,” said Tessitor. “This is a major concern that we have to deal with, but we’re not going to go down without a real significant effort.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here