November 22, 2022
The Honorable Ara Najarian
Chair of the Board
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority One Gateway Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90012
RE: SUPPORT FOR METRO’S LAND BANK PILOT PROGRAM WITH REQUIREMENT FOR METRO TO COORIDNATE WITH LOCAL JURISDICTIONS WHEN CONSIDERING PROPERTY WITHIN SAID JURISDICTION Dear Chair Najarian and the Metro Board of Directors:
On behalf of the City of Commerce we support the adoption of the Metro Board policy that would align with the recently issued Board Action is necessary to ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities, for Metro and the cities impacted by Metro’s highway and transit capital projects. It is important for the City of Commerce and surrounding communities to see where Metro’s role and how capital program will fit in with the County’s Land Bank Program.
The City of Commerce is fully in support of the Los Angeles County Land Bank Pilot Program, and supporting the construction of affordable housing in communities where it is mostly needed. The City of Commerce is experiencing housing crisis, and is in search of more affordable places to live. At the same time, the City is actively working towards improving the Los Angeles River area, as well as efforts to build high quality transit. While supporting this measure is important for the region, the City of Commerce would like to respectfully request that any Land Banking matters should include dialogue and input from the local jurisdiction. This dialogue will ensure that our respective jurisdictions have the ability to address the unnecessary intrusion of variables that could price out many of our low income residents.
We look forward to our continued dialogue on this matter as we continue to support and work in unison with Metro.
Sincerely,
Oralia Y. Rebollo
Mayor, City of Commerce
City of Commerce
CITY OF COMMERCE
Oralia Rebollo Hugo Argumedo
Mayor Mayor Pro Tem
Mireya Garcia Ivan Altamirano Kevin Lainez Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember