Metrolink Moves to Take Over Lot

Orange County transportation officials voted Monday to initiate land-taking procedures against a Laguna Niguel construction supplier whose storage lot is the preferred site for a new Metrolink station.

The decision to clear the way for eminent domain proceedings against the owner of Sepulveda Building Supply on Forbes Road follows four years of unsuccessful bargaining for the property. Transit officials have valued the 1-acre piece of land at $1.5 million, but the owner, John Connors, wants officials to make upgrades to the area’s infrastructure and exempt the business from certain zoning restrictions. The parcel is part of Connors’ 5-acre operation.

The move followed little debate, as Orange County Transportation Authority directors said they hope a deal could be struck before a March 31 construction deadline. If the agency fails to break ground by that date, it will lose more than half its funding for the $5.2-million project.

Neither Connors nor a representative attended Monday’s meeting, although the landowner’s lawyer said negotiations were continuing. “We’re very supportive of the new station,” said lawyer Robert McMurry.

The lot is used to store building supply materials, and its use for a station would not require the business to close down, McMurry said.