Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Firms Get 60 Days to Move for New Metrolink Station

Rushing to qualify for federal disaster dollars, the city plans to give four Sierra Highway business owners just 60 days to relocate so the city can demolish their structures and build a Metrolink station.

State law requires the city to give a tenant at least 90 days to vacate under normal circumstances. But Lancaster staff members urged the City Council on Tuesday to use its earthquake-related emergency powers to cut that time to 30 days.

The City Council compromised on 60-days notice, providing some relief to business owners who have not yet lined up new quarters.

“It’s still going to be a very tight squeeze for us,” Alan Frisch, owner of The Woodpecker, a cabinet-making business, said Wednesday. “I don’t think 60 days is enough time. But we all understand that this is a special project, and there are special circumstances involved.

“We just want to be treated fairly.”

The city is trying to speed up the relocation of Frisch’s shop and three other businesses on the east side of Sierra Highway, just south of Lancaster Boulevard, to make way for a covered Metrolink train station and paved parking lot.

The station must be finished by July 16 to qualify for federal funds reserved for new rail projects that serve commuters whose travel was disrupted by the Northridge earthquake, Lancaster officials said.

Lancaster set up an interim platform and an unpaved lot on the east side of the Southern Pacific railroad tracks a few days after the Jan. 17 quake. But because those tracks are needed for freight trains, Metrolink is building a second set of commuter rails that will require the platform to be at the Sierra Highway location.

The city plans to buy this land from Southern Pacific. But before it can build the station, the city must clear the four businesses that lease their property from the railroad.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, two business owners said they were confused about how soon they would have to move and how much compensation they would receive from the city. They said they could not look for a new location until they knew how much money they would receive.

“I don’t blame them for the statements they’re making,” said Steven H. Dukett, the city’s redevelopment director.

On Tuesday night, he said the city was waiting for reports from two appraisers on the value of the four businesses. On Wednesday, the appraisals arrived, and Dukett said the four business owners would receive offers for their buildings, equipment and fixtures this week.

Dukett said the city will help the owners find new sites and provide money for moving costs and any temporary loss of income. The city will seek reimbursement through federal aid programs.