Palmdale to Study Alternate Park-and-Ride Sites
Continuing to walk a tightrope, the Palmdale City Council decided Thursday to explore half a dozen alternate sites for a controversial park-and-ride lot planned near one of the city’s priciest neighborhoods, but it also ordered design work to continue for the original site.
For the third month in a row, the council wrestled with the issue without reaching a resolution. On one hand, city officials are reluctant to proceed with the original four-acre Caltrans-owned site because several houses are close by, and area residents are upset.
However, the city risks losing its $700,000 Metropolitan Transit Authority grant to build the lot if it delays too long or picks another site too far away. Caltrans has given its site for free, whereas the city potentially would have to pay to buy another, privately owned parcel.
At issue is the city’s plan to build a 433-space lot on the south side of Avenue S just west of the Antelope Valley Freeway. The site is overlooked by the unincorporated Ana Verde Hills area, a collection of $300,000-plus custom houses owned by doctors, attorneys and other professionals.
“Putting a park-and-ride in the residential area of Ana Verde would be the creation of a blight,” said attorney Dawn Reichman, a spokeswoman for the Ana Verde Homeowners Assn. “I realize money is a concern, but money isn’t everything,” Reichman told the council.
Mayor Jim Ledford said he was sympathetic, particularly to the issue of the several houses closest to the original site. But the mayor said he did not know where the city would get the money to purchase another site. “Let’s put it in perspective. The Caltrans site is free,” Ledford said.
One potential low-cost alternative did surface Thursday. Palmdale resident Rodney Bruce offered an even trade of four acres of his nearby 10-acre parcel north of Avenue S for the Caltrans site on the south side of the street. Ana Verde residents, who live south of Avenue S, backed that offer.
City officials said they now plan to consider Bruce’s property.
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