Plan for Sylmar Police Academy Faces New Rival

A proposal to build a new police academy in Sylmar, which appeared to be moving steadily forward for months, encountered a sudden rival Monday--a suggestion that the city could save large amounts of money and time by snapping up a bargain site in West Los Angeles instead.

The move would save the city $50 million and speed up Mayor Richard Riordan’s expansion plans for the Los Angeles Police Department, said supporters of the plan to buy a 13.8-acre site in Westchester.

“If it were not for the fact that there’s a God in heaven, it would be too good to be true,” Steve Hatfield, assistant commanding officer of the department’s Police Facilities Construction Group, said of the newly proposed site.

“It’s just unbelievable.”

Acquiring the newly available Westchester site, near the intersection of the San Diego Freeway and Manchester Boulevard, would shorten the time needed to build a new police academy by 2 1/2 years, according to Hatfield and others familiar with the West Los Angeles location.

Hatfield added that the new site--a building formerly occupied by the Hewlett-Packard electronics firm--is big enough to house a new LAPD communications facility on its second floor. That would cut five years off the development of that center, he said.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, whose district includes the new location, plans to file an emergency motion in the council today to allow the city to bid on the Westchester building. Galanter is urging her colleagues to spend up to $14 million to outbid four other prospective buyers for the property.

Galanter’s motion would allow the city to move quickly, and she said it would produce an enormous savings to the city.

“It’s really worth the strenuous effort,” she said. “We need to get into the bidding right away.”

Earlier this month, police officials said the Sylmar site, on county land east of the Olive View Medical Center, was particularly well located because it would be near a planned LAPD firearm and high-speed driving training center in Granada Hills.

But Gary Greenebaum, president of the city Police Commission, said Monday that location was only a secondary concern.

“It’s not terribly important where the training facility is,” he said. “What is important is that it is fairly accessible, which the site in Westchester is.”

Galanter’s motion asks for an immediate vote, which officials said could clear the way for the city to enter the bidding in a day or two.

Greenebaum urged council members to approve Galanter’s motion, saying that would put the city in the running for the Hewlett-Packard site without committing the city to buy the land if the property proves unsuitable.

“It could be a wonderful thing,” Greenebaum said. “It shows good hustle on the part of the department to have come up with this.”

The West L. A. alternative “is a nice size piece of land and represents a potential savings of many millions of dollars,” Greenebaum said. “But what we have to do now is as a community take a very serious look at it.”

Commission member Deidre Hill agreed, saying it was too early in the process to favor one site over another.

“There are a number of issues, including location, that we have to look at,” she said. “And all those concerns must be balanced before a decision is made.”

Although the Sylmar proposal gained widespread local support, including that of the Chamber of Commerce, a small group of neighboring homeowners had remained adamantly opposed to the facility.

Saying the academy would create too much traffic and noise, they successfully lobbied police officials to change the planned location of the facility’s main entrance. They also were able to have a proposed running track moved to a canyon area to reduce noise.

Others, especially equestrians who use the area’s trails, remained opposed to the planned facility. The president of a local riding club reacted with enthusiasm Monday to news that the academy might be built elsewhere.

“Giggle, giggle, giggle,” said Kris Minzey, who fears the academy would make some of the riding trails off-limits to civilians. “It would be wonderful. Anything helps, any little push, even if it’s just a motion.

“We don’t mind having it (somewhere) in Sylmar, we just don’t want it there.”

In her motion, Galanter stated that the new facility would “dramatically increase” the city’s ability to meet Riordan’s goal of hiring and training officers as quickly as possible.

“The mayor and the chief of police have developed a public safety plan, of which an integral ingredient is a mandate to hire and train 2,500 additional police officers,” the motion states. “This property acquisition would dramatically increase the city’s ability to achieve that objective. The facilities needed to train additional personnel are already substantially in place at the Hewlett-Packard site.”

Officials estimate that it would take 45 to 60 days to negotiate the property sale. If it passes muster--winning approval from the Police Commission, City Council and mayor, as well as clearing environmental tests--officials say the first police training classes could begin there as early as March or April.

Hatfield and other department officials said they have been aware of the Hewlett-Packard property for some time, but had not been able to take any action toward acquiring it because another potential buyer was negotiating for it. That deal fell through Thursday, Hatfield said, and the LAPD then moved quickly to get in the running.

The Sylmar location has had strong support in some quarters. Councilman Hal Bernson--whose northwest Valley district surrounds the unincorporated county land--was cautious about endorsing the Galanter proposal.

“My position has always been that whatever the Police Department thought was best, I would support,” Bernson said. “There is a lot of support (in Sylmar) for the academy and some opposition too. I’m going to reserve my judgment until the department decides on what is the best site.”

But an aide to Councilwoman Laura Chick said the new proposal appears too good to oppose. Among other things, aide Eric Rose said, a portion of the money saved by purchasing the Hewlett-Packard facility could be used to make improvements in West Valley police operations.

“It sounds like a wonderful opportunity to expand police services in the West Valley,” Rose said. “It looks like it’s going to be a win-win for the city.”