OCTA Votes to Seize Land for Station

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 Orange County Transportation Authority’s 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. OCTA 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 as well. The parcel is part of Connors’ 5-acre operation.

Monday’s action followed little debate, as OCTA directors said they are continuing to negotiate with Connors and hope a deal can be struck before March 31. If OCTA 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 continue. “We’re very supportive of the new station,” lawyer Robert McMurry said. “We’d like to see the station come in, and we’ve always said that.”

The lot in question is used to store building supply materials, and its use for a station would not require the business to close, McMurry said. The planned 400-space parking lot and train platform will help the agency meet growing ridership, officials say.

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Land Sought

County transportation officials agreed Monday to use eminent domain to claim a 1-acre chunk of a Laguna Niguel building supply lot as a Metrolink station.