Rail Station Study Recommended : Transportation: A county panel supports spending $100,000 to determine whether the Chatsworth project would be profitable if the private sector were involved.

A county transit committee has recommended spending $100,000 to determine whether the private sector could be involved in a commuter rail station project in Chatsworth.

A committee of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission on Wednesday approved spending the money to assess whether a profitable project could be built on the 11-acre site near the proposed rail station.

The developer would compensate the public agencies involved through a lease or other form of payment. The payment would go to defray the $17-million cost of buying the property from Southern Pacific railroad. The site is east of the Southern Pacific tracks between Devonshire Street and Lassen Avenue.

The commission is expected to make a final decision on the study next week.

The LACTC is negotiating to buy the site from the railroad. The city of Los Angeles is considering joining in the purchase.

The idea behind the study is to see whether a project built by a private developer on a portion of the site could “produce sufficient revenues to support the purchase and ongoing maintenance of the site,” according to a recent LACTC report.

The analysis would consider how much of the property could be developed as a for-profit project after providing for a transit station and parking for 300 to 500 cars.

It also would look at what kind of development would be most profitable; what zoning would permit; and what the local residents would find acceptable, said Neil Peterson, LACTC executive director.

“I can assure you that whatever goes in will be done absolutely after consulting the community,” Peterson said. “It’ll be a love-in type situation.”

The LACTC last month agreed to pay $450 million for Southern Pacific property that includes 177 miles of railroad right of ways. The plan is to make these properties the backbone of a countywide commuter rail network.

Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area, has appointed a panel of citizens to work with the LACTC on the project.