Police Department to Pay Full Price for DWP Parcel

In a move to cool off a flap with Mayor Richard Riordan, the Los Angeles Police Department disclosed Tuesday that it is ready to pay fair market value to a sister city agency for land for a key police training facility.

The decision appears to end a dispute that began after a surprised Police Department learned recently that the Department of Water and Power, with the blessing of Riordan, expected the LAPD to pay $6 million for a 44-acre parcel that police want to use as an emergency vehicle and firearms training facility.

The DWP’s request that it be paid market value for the land was initially seen by the LAPD as a betrayal of what it believed was a long-standing gentleman’s agreement with the city-owned utility. Since 1986, the Police Department has assumed that it would be able to lease the parcel for $1 a year.

The parcel is located on the west side of the Golden State Freeway between Granada Hills and Sylmar. The cost of constructing the training facility--not including land costs--is estimated to be $26 million.

Despite its initial reservations, the LAPD has recognized the need of adapting to the Riordan Administration’s fiscal philosophy, including its belief that departments--like businesses--ought to pay for assets they acquire, even from another city agency, said LAPD Cmdr. David Kalish, head of the police facilities construction group.

Kalish said the property’s fair market value, as determined by the appraisal, would be the starting point for negotiations with the DWP to establish the final price the LAPD will pay.

“I’m optimistic that we can come to a fair resolution of this matter,” Kalish told reporters.

Deputy Mayor Michael Keeley praised the LAPD’s position as “exactly the way to go.”

Meanwhile, Councilwoman Laura Chick on Tuesday continued to question the propriety and wisdom of the sale, saying she still wants the council to consider a motion she introduced last week to review the Riordan plan.

The San Fernando Valley lawmaker said she wants to know what impact paying market value for the parcel will have on the LAPD’s ability to meet its other facility demands. LAPD capital projects are to be paid with receipts from a $176-million bond issue, approved by voters in 1989, she said. At the very least, a multimillion-dollar payment to DWP would force the LAPD to reorder or drop some of its projects.