City Council Approves Gold Line Settlement in Unanimous Vote

The Monrovia City Council voted 4-0 Monday to approve a settlement agreement that will hand over land and more than $600,000 to a local developer to end litigation over the development of land around the coming Gold Line Foothill Extension.

The agreement settles a $106 million lawsuit filed by Samuelson & Fetter over property that will be incorporated in the Station Square Transit Village project along the Gold Line.

The agreement calls on the city to pay the Samuelson & Fetter $2.78 million and then sell a lot of land east of Magnolia Avenue and south of Pomona Avenue to the developer for the exact same amount. Additionally, the city must pay $510,000 to the developer and up to $100,000 for environmental insurance premiums on the land, according to the settlement agreement.

The agreement will go before a judge later this month and then must be approved on Wednesday by an oversight committee set up to handle the finances of the successor agency to the Monrovia Redevelopment Agency. The state Department of Finance must also sign off on the agreement.