San Fernando, County Agree on Land Swap

The San Fernando City Council has voted to approve a land exchange with Los Angeles County that will enable the city to build a new police station.

Under terms of the agreement, approved by a 4-1 vote Monday night, the city agreed to exchange its 31,000-square-foot police station site on Macneil Street for the county’s half-interest in a 42,000-square-foot parking lot at 1st Street and Brand Boulevard. San Fernando owns the other half of the lot.

The deal will give San Fernando a bigger and more desirable piece of land for a police station. The council has allocated $2 million to build it.

Plans call for the city to demolish the existing police station after the new one is built, then turn the vacant lot over to the county.

Public Hearing Held

Before the vote, the council held a public hearing to give residents a chance to comment on the proposed swap. About 10 people asked the council whether the old site could be remodeled to save money.

But Councilman Roy Richardson told them, “When I look at all the work which would need to be done to the existing structure to bring it halfway to reasonable use . . . I just cannot conceive of any other proposal than to build a brand new station on brand new land.”

The 30-year-old Macneil Street station has become obsolete because most of the building consists of unused jail cells, city officials said. The station was built when cities jailed convicted criminals.

During construction of the new facility, which is expected to take 20 months, the county has agreed to let the city keep using the old station, City Administrator Don Penman said.

For the first 15 months of construction, the city will not have to pay rent on the facility, Penman said. After that, the city will pay the county $5,000 for each additional month that the old station is used.

County officials have agreed to try to build a library on the site they will acquire, which is across from San Fernando City Hall.