SOUTH-CENTRAL : Newton Police Station Approved

The Planning Commission has given final approval for a Newton Division police station to be built at 3400 Central Ave.

Construction of the 26,000-square-foot, $13-million station is to begin in April, 1994, said Lynell Washington, a planner for CRSS Construction Inc.

Six single-family homes must be demolished to make way for the station and the homeowners agreed in August to sell their property to the city.

However, the homeowners complained this month that the city had not notified them about when they would be paid and when they would have to move. Two of the homeowners said the city offered them $177,000 for their homes.

At a Planning Commission hearing last week, city planning examiner Don Taylor said the escrow papers have since been sent to the homeowners.

Paul Lee, an attorney for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles who is representing the homeowners, confirmed that he received the escrow papers from the city and said the homeowners should be paid by March.

Lee said his clients have not been told when demolition will begin.

The area to be cleared for the station is bounded by Central Avenue on the west, 34th Street on the north, 35th Street on the south and Naomi Avenue on the east.