Landowner vs. OCTA

A Laguna Niguel landowner who is driving a hard bargain for the preferred site of a new Metrolink station has been warned that officials may take his land by eminent domain.

After four years of unsuccessful negotiations with John Connors, owner of Sepulveda Building Supply on Forbes Road, county transportation officials will vote Monday on whether to initiate lengthy land-taking proceedings against him. The site is needed for one of four new Metrolink stations.

Orange County Transportation Authority officials say the 1-acre parcel between the San Joaquin Hills tollway and Interstate 5 is worth $1.5 million, and they are unwilling to pay more. The parcel is part of Connors’ 5-acre operation. As part of the deal, he wants officials to exempt his remaining property from zoning regulations.

Transportation officials say they are still trying to reach agreement with Connors, but that they are rapidly approaching a March 31 construction deadline. If OCTA fails to buy the land and break ground by that date, the agency will lose $3 million in state funding--more than half the total cost of the project.

“We think we can still work something out with the owner, but we need to be able to exercise eminent domain if we absolutely have to,” OCTA spokesman George Urch said. “We’ve already invested $1 million in this property for design work and environmental permitting.

Transportation officials said that if negotiations failed and they did move to take the land, Connors will be paid its full value.

Connors could not be reached for comment. However, his lawyer said Friday that his client would contest the $1.5-million figure in court.

Attorney Robert McMurry confirmed that his client was still negotiating with the OCTA and still hopes an agreement can be worked out. It came as no surprise that OCTA is considering eminent-domain proceedings, McMurry said.

“We knew that if the property couldn’t be acquired voluntarily that they were going to take it one way or another,” he said. “We’re not contesting their right to take the land. . . . We’re contesting what they intend to pay us.”

The 1-acre parcel is used to store lumber and other building materials, McMurry said. The loss of the land would not force the family-owned operation to close, he said.

The proposed land-taking is just the latest in a string of complications that have dogged the proposed Metrolink station. About a year ago, officials announced that the lowest construction bid was $2 million more than the $2.75 million budgeted for it. OCTA subsequently rescued the project from its deathbed by adding $2.5 million to the budget. And two months ago the lead property negotiator, the city of Laguna Niguel, abandoned its talks with Connors after four years and asked OCTA to step in and take over.

“They were asking for more than what the city could offer, in both cash and other considerations,” Laguna Niguel City Manager Timothy J. Casey said. “We’re very supportive of the OCTA’s action.”

Casey declined to say what the other considerations were, but McMurry said they included a request that the city expand Forbes Road and allow the company to expand its floor space beyond what the city otherwise would allow.

OCTA officials say the planned 400-space parking lot and train platform will help the agency meet growing ridership. Metrolink’s Orange County line serves about 5,900 people a day.

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Tracking the Deal

After several years of unsuccessful negotiations with a Laguna Niguel landowner, the Orange County Transportation Authority has proposed taking a 1-acre parcel by eminent domain to build a Metrolink station.