Firm Could Be Forced to Sell Land for Police Station

With talks at a stalemate, Los Angeles officials moved Monday toward exercising eminent domain powers to force an auto maker to sell land it owns in Mission Hills for use as the San Fernando Valley’s sixth police station.

The Los Angeles City Council Public Safety Committee recommended Monday that condemnation be authorized after DaimlerChrysler refused to sell the three-acre site at 11121 Sepulveda Blvd.

“We made them an offer and they said ‘no,’ so this is our only option, to use eminent domain and condemn it,” said Patrick McAree, the LAPD’s manager of the project.

Some worried that the move could add months of delay and increase the cost of the project, which was originally promised as part of a police bond measure approved by voters in 1989.

“We want this to happen in our lifetime,” said Councilman Hal Bernson, whose district includes the Mission Hills site.

Bernson said the LAPD should look at alternative locations to avoid a court battle with DaimlerChrysler. The car maker bought the property last year and is moving forward with plans to build a car dealership on the site, said Robert Beehler, a real estate manager for DaimlerChrysler. Beehler said he was disappointed that the city might force the sale of the property.

“We have always felt that the city never looked at alternative sites,” Beehler said.

City officials said they did an extensive survey of the north San Fernando Valley and were unable to find an alternative.

“After searching for other sites, this site was identified as the one most well suited for the project,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who chairs the council committee.

Even as the eminent domain ordinance moved forward to the full council Monday, Councilman Alex Padilla said he hoped that DaimlerChrysler might return to negotiations to resolve the issue without legal action, said spokesman David Gershwin.

The recommendation came after a report from the city attorney’s office that concluded that “a negotiated purchase cannot be achieved.”

A city appraisal set the fair market value of the property at $3.1 million, but DaimlerChrysler set the price for sale at about $8 million, according to Nassef Eskander, a city architect. The auto maker, which declined comment on Eskander’s assertion, bought the property for $3 million last year.

DaimlerChrysler has also spent substantial amounts of money to prepare for the dealership project, including soil tests and marketing studies, Beehler said. The car maker chose the property for purchase because of its location.

Each of the five police stations in the Valley covers an average of 45 square miles, more than twice the area policed by non-Valley stations, officials said.

Eskander joined other city officials in recommending the city use its power to forcibly acquire the property.

Eminent domain cases can take about a year if a trial is needed to set the price of the land, according to Ken Cirlin, an assistant city attorney.

McAree said going to court could delay construction of the police station, but that the city is proceeding with the design of the project so that it will be ready to break ground quickly.