SANTA CLARITA / ANTELOPE VALLEY : City to Buy Car Dealer’s Land for Sheriff’s Station : Lancaster: Critics say the public had little time to review the $1.8-million deal. Condemnation action had begun.

The City Council has agreed to pay $1.8 million to acquire an auto dealer’s land for a new sheriff’s station.

The sum, to be paid to the owners of Pioneer Honda/Isuzu, is to cover the cost of the land; the investment the auto dealer had made in improvements, fixtures and equipment; the loss of goodwill to the business; and relocation expenses.

City Council members, who had begun condemnation measures to obtain the land, approved the payment at their meeting Monday night, saying a court battle could have made the acquisition more expensive.

“Personally, I don’t like this deal,” said Councilman Michael Singer. But, he added, “I don’t see as we have any choice but to go forward with this.”

He joined Mayor Frank Roberts and Councilmen George Runner and Henry Hearns in approving the payment. Councilwoman Deborah Shelton voted no, saying there had been insufficient time for the public to review the complex deal.

The auto dealership occupies just over one acre on Sierra Highway, north of Kettering Street--one of the last two parcels the city needed to clear the way for a new 50,900-square-foot sheriff’s complex, which is expected to open late next year.

If the council had not approved the $1.8-million settlement on Monday, the city would have risked paying more through a trial, said Steven H. Dukett, the city’s redevelopment director.

“You never know what a jury is going to do,” he said. “We’re better off settling with these folks.”

Nevertheless, several residents complained at Monday’s meeting that the steep payment was a “taxpayer giveaway” to the business owners.

The recipients of the money are F. Allan Reilly and Mildred Rader, principal owners of the dealership, and Ricky J. Clutter, who is purchasing their Honda and Isuzu franchises.

Under the agreement, Clutter will use some of the money to move the dealership to the Lancaster Auto Mall at 10th Street West and Avenue K-8.

If the city had rejected the settlement and opted for a court fight, the owners of Pioneer Honda/Isuzu had threatened to close the business instead of moving, Dukett said. That would have put 21 people out of work and caused a loss of sales tax revenue generated by the dealership, he said.

Under the current proposal, the new dealership is expected to open late this year in the auto mall, at which time the old business will be demolished.