SIMI VALLEY : State OKs Funds to Build Rail Station

State transportation commissioners have approved $4.9 million in state railroad bonds to speed development of a Ventura County-Los Angeles commuter rail line that is scheduled to start in late 1992.

Half the money will be used to build a Simi Valley station and $1.6 million will pay for track and signal improvements along the 47-mile line scheduled to run between Moorpark and Union Station.

Another $829,000 will be used to build a station in Van Nuys. The Ventura County line will also have stations in Chatsworth, Burbank and Glendale. The money comes from Propositions 108 and 116, transportation bonds approved last year.

Meanwhile, the Simi Valley City Council has taken a step toward acquiring land for the commuter rail station.

The council voted Monday to hold a public hearing next month to discuss plans to acquire more than six acres near Los Angeles Avenue and Stearns Street as the site for a Metrolink stop. The service would offer four round trips each weekday between Simi Valley and Los Angeles.

The proposed site includes 2.7 acres owned by UniCal Financial Corp. and four acres owned by the Sloane Family Trust.

The city is expected to close escrow on the UniCal site by the end of the year for about $520,000, officials said.

However, the city is still negotiating on the Sloane parcel. Brian Gabler, assistant to the city manager, said the city has made an offer for the property but has not received a response.

But Mary Justice Stone, a part owner of the property who said it has been in her family for 38 years, said the owners responded that the city’s appraised value of $862,000 is too low.

The public hearing, set Nov. 25, will consider eminent domain proceedings for the Sloane property, city officials said.