To build the first phase of a major light-rail line through the dense East San Fernando Valley, LA Metro needs to acquire about 80 properties, including law offices, a veterinarian office, auto repair shops, restaurants, nightclubs, a check-cashing business and a recycling center, according to a report released on Thursday, Nov. 30.
The properties — which also include three residences — are primarily along Van Nuys Boulevard, the location of the first, 6.7-mile segment of the proposed 9.2-mile East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Project.
The first phase of the $3.7-billion project would run between the G (Orange) Line in Van Nuys and the intersection of Van Nuys and San Fernando Road in Pacoima. A second phase would travel 2.5 miles alongside the Metrolink heavy rail line into San Fernando.
One affected resident lives next to their business in a trailer; another is a single-family residence, Metro reported. No apartment complexes are on the list. Properties are needed for construction staging, electrical power stations, a rail maintenance facility and laying track, Metro reported.
Metro has stepped up efforts to acquire these properties by offering additional cash to assist owners and tenants search for and acquire new locations and re-establish their businesses. Metro would like to speed up acquisitions to quicken the pace of the project, with the first phase completed in 2030.
To sweeten the deals, Metro would pay a 20% bonus above the appraised value of the property, with bonuses ranging from $3,500 to $500,000. Property owners would have to take the offer within 60 days. If the two sides could not agree on a selling price, Metro will use eminent domain procedures, in which the transit agency acquires the property at fair market value.
Also approved were increased relocation compensation payments, up from the usual $2,500 to $5,000. The money to be given for re-establishing a business elsewhere would be raised from $25,000 to $40,000. Or the small…
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