Let’s get the facts before we move

Don Knapp

We need to know all of the true facts before we waste any more

taxpayer money on the movement of the Maintenance Yard to the ACT V

site.

It is difficult to accept that city management really does not

know how many parking spaces are available at ACT V. It is a simple

matter of a physical count. We don’t seem to know what, if any, the

net gain in parking spaces would be should the Maintenance Yard be

moved to ACT V. The land at the present Maintenance Yard site was

prepared for parking. This fact was either ignored by design or was

truly unknown when the city appeared at the recent Coastal Commission

hearing to ask for their approval to move the Maintenance Yard. Isn’t

this a vital fact to know?

It is harder to accept that city management did not reveal that

the entire Maintenance Yard would not be moved. Ugly storage bins

behind City Hall will remain. The gas tank will remain -- we just

spent $100,000 on it. The ugly tin buildings will remain (at least

for a while). The hydraulic lift that is used to maintain the city

buses will remain.

Some very staunch proponents of the move have been shocked by this

fact that was never before disclosed, at least publicly. What did our

City Council members really know before voting 3 to 2 to move the

Maintenance Yard?

The cost of the move is estimated at anywhere from $5 million to

$9 million. The council has already accepted a Village Entrance plan

that incorporates the Maintenance Yard functions into the project.

Presumedly the functions would be brought up to acceptable standards.

Would it be better to set this money aside for the construction of

the Village Entrance than to move part of the Maintenance Yard? Would

the combined parking of the Village Entrance and the current number

of spaces at ACT V produce an abundance of parking spaces? Don’t we

need both? If we proceed to move the Maintenance Yard to ACT V at a

cost of millions, won’t that divert funds away from, and greatly

delay, the building of the Village Entrance?

Why are we in such a hurry to move the Maintenance Yard then?

* DON KNAPP is a Laguna Beach resident.