Transit Lines Expected to Benefit Nearby Owners : Rail: Officials say it will take time for projects to be built. But they expect commuters to want to work and shop nearby.

Property values have always been affected by transportation. Freeways, for example, have been in large part responsible for the growth and popularity of many outlying Los Angeles communities. Now, transportation officials and developers are waiting to see what impact new rail lines will have on property values in Ventura County and the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

Chances are it will be a long wait until residential and commercial properties near L. A.’s Metrolink and Metro Rail stations realize the same benefit as similarly situated properties in cities with established rail transportation--such as San Francisco or Washington.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, for instance, realtors say that for about 25% of prospective home buyers, being within walking distance of a BART station is a serious consideration when looking for a home.

In the Valley and in Ventura County, property owners with a long-term outlook are expected to eventually benefit from proximity to rail lines. Local planning and transportation agencies are working to implement comprehensive development plans near the new train stations.

“In the long run, ridership will grow and so will more development around rail stations,” predicted William Fulton, editor of the California Planning and Development Report in Ventura, and author of the “Guide to California Planning.” Private development will happen, such as office and retail sites, but first, he said, “the more likely scenario will be public and private joint-venture developments.”

Property owners near the two planned San Fernando Valley Metro Rail subway lines will be the primary beneficiaries of rail construction, Fulton said. “The potential property value increase from a subway station is much greater than from above-ground rail, because subway lines carry more riders and are in more urban areas.”

This also helps explain why the Metropolitan Transit Authority will be assessing a special benefit tax on property owners near the Metro Rail stations planned for Universal City and North Hollywood, Fulton explained. Unfortunately, because the benefits take so long to realize, “it’s a pretty heavy imposition on commercial property owners,” Fulton said.

Metrolink, which now passes through much of the Valley, and which features both Santa Clarita and Ventura County rail lines, was paid for with bond money. As a result, stations were built by local governments, so no money had to be raised through a special assessment, said Mary Travis, manager of transit programs for the Ventura County Transportation Commission. “Metrolink is positive for surrounding business properties simply because it brings more people into the area,” Travis reasoned. “Commuters are looking for an easy way to do their errands and shopping adjacent to a train station . . . the properties nearby will be more valuable with time.”

Metrolink began operating in October, 1992, with 11 stations along 114 miles of already existing railroad tracks connecting to Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles. The system has since been expanded. The Ventura County rail line includes stations in Glendale, Burbank, Van Nuys, Chatsworth, Simi Valley and Moorpark. Since the January earthquake, temporary stations have been added in Northridge and Camarillo.

The Santa Clarita Metrolink line shares permanent stations in Glendale and Burbank, plus Sylmar and Santa Clarita. Special emergency stations are operating in Acton, Palmdale and Lancaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is helping to finance the emergency stations; it remains to be seen which temporary stations become permanent--if any. Travel time between Santa Clarita and Downtown Los Angeles will be about 67 minutes. Between Chatsworth and Union Station, expect about an hour of travel time.

One of the criterion used by transit officials in picking the Metrolink sites was the possibility of adding commercial developments around the stations.

Burbank officials are hoping to eventually convert two parking lots near the Burbank Metrolink station into joint-venture developments that might have retail stores on the ground floor, and maybe office space as well. “We already have plans that would accommodate a large, mixed-use project,” said William Lundgren, transportation administrator for Burbank’s Community Development Department. “It hasn’t really become attractive yet for investment capital,” he conceded. “The rail line is too new. It will take time for nearby projects to get built.”

In Chatsworth, the MTA has helped develop a community plan for the area surrounding the Metrolink station. Architectural drawings are being made for a child-care center and a depot to house transportation agency offices and a small-scale museum. Transportation planners want to lure commercial development onto adjacent vacant land, said Mark Dierking, manager of public affairs for the MTA’s San Fernando Valley/North County area team. “But, we haven’t had any takers yet.” The biggest adjacent property owner, Dierking said, “is not looking to expand or develop its property yet.”

At the moment, the new Chatsworth station looks like a wasteland. It is surrounded by open fields with plenty of weeds, and in the distance massive apartment buildings are on one side, and a row of noisy auto body repair shops on another.

Santa Clarita has plans for what’s known as the Porta Bella project near one of the two Santa Clarita Metrolink stations. This commercial and residential development would also include the city’s civic center.

Simi Valley doesn’t have any specific plans for new developments near the Metrolink station in the eastern part of the city, said Brian Gabler, Simi Valley deputy city manager. “The station is an accommodation to residents commuting out of our city,” he said, adding that nearby development will probably be no different than what might be built even if there was no rail line.

There’s a neighborhood shopping center across the street that has empty space and, “we don’t want to be in competition with additional square footage,” Gabler said. Just south of the station, there are six acres zoned for industrial use. “The owner has talked to us about various uses, but he has not taken any action,” Gabler said.

Metro Rail is expected to be a boon to the Universal City area and MCA has sought to move the planned subway station onto the company’s Universal Studios lot. Another subway stop is scheduled to be built in North Hollywood. It’s too early to tell what kind of private development that may attract, given the fact that the station won’t be opening until at least the year 2000.

“There is a tendency for property values to go up over time near rail stations,” said the MTA’s Dierking. But, he added, “Metrolink and Metro Rail are long-term propositions. While we expect that over time there will be building near the stations, it will not happen overnight.”