FULLERTON : Caltrans, Council Revise Depot Plans

Some trees and covered shelters will remain on the platform at the Santa Fe Depot after a compromise was reached this week between Caltrans and the City Council.

Voting 3 to 1, with Mayor Molly McClanahan dissenting, the council Tuesday approved the compromise, which will add $22,000 to the cost of renovating the train depot. Councilwoman Julie Sa was absent.

In March the council had decided to rip out a 55-foot planter on the north platform of the train station because it blocked views of the historic depot.

Under the plan approved Tuesday, 25 feet will be removed from the middle section of the planter and the covered shelters will remain. Four sumac trees will be uprooted and a second planter will not be built.

The city and Caltrans had agreed in 1990 to spend $750,000 to renovate the station platform, which about 330,000 Amtrak passengers use each year. The plan called for two planters with palm trees, covered shelters with benches, and other trees in front of the depot. The depot was built in 1930 in an architectural style known as Spanish colonial revival.

But in February, residents and council members criticized the landscaping, and the council halted the renovation project to review plans. Councilman Chris Norby called the palm and sumac trees an “urban forest” that would hide the depot.

Clearing the platform of landscaping and the covered shelters could have cost as much as $85,000, according to city staff estimates. Two shelters had already been built, and two more were planned.

Amtrak protested the decision to remove the planters, shelters and trees, saying passengers would have no shade or seating. Amtrak complained to Caltrans, which has the right to review the council’s changes, as it is paying for half the project.

City Manager James L. Armstrong then met with Caltrans officials, and the group visited the station last week to discuss the renovation.

“We were able to find a middle ground,” Armstrong said.

The new changes will cost about $22,000, according to Robert Hodson, director of engineering.

“It’s a waste of money, taking part of it out and redoing it,” McClanahan said.

“I think it’s a good compromise,” said Councilman A.B. (Buck) Catlin, who voted for it. “The (original) design was not a good one.”

“It’s certainly an improvement over what was built,” said David Zenger, president of Fullerton Heritage, a historic preservation group. Zenger had lobbied hard at council meetings to clear the platform of trees and planters.

Hodson said the contractor, who had halted work in February, will restart next week. The project will probably be completed in early fall, he said.