Could Green Line Extension Next Door Bring Crime?

Nearly 100 people gathered at the North Redondo Senior Center at Perry Park in neighboring Redondo Beach on Monday night to voice their opinion on a proposed extension of Metro's Green Line.

This was the second of three public meetings.

The current plan calls for Metro to add on to the existing Green Line, building tracks along an existing right-of-way used by freight trains.

For now, the tracks would stop at a proposed station at the South Bay Galleria, though some have expressed hope that in the future, the line would extend all the way to San Pedro.

Either way, plans will expand public transportation options for the Hermosa Beach area.

After a half-hour presentation by Green Line project manager Randy Lamm on Monday, the floor was opened to questions and comments.

Each person was given two minutes to state his or her opinion—and the 27 people who spoke covered a range of concerns, including eminent domain, noise levels, traffic and even the type of rail car.

Above all, people appeared to be concerned with a possible increase in crime the extension might bring to the Beach Cities.

"I think [the light rail is] going to be bringing outsiders into our community, and it's not going to be people who are spending money," said local Ken Prinzi. "I think it's going to be people going to the Galleria."

Prinzi also said that he thought the Green Line would introduce a "bad element" into the local area. Laurie Prinzi agreed.

"I feel that when you have train stations … there's a loitering aspect to this, and we have parks nearby," she said. "Where are these people going to hang out, if you will? Are they going to go to the parks? Are they going to go walking around in the community? Do you feel that this is going to create an additional crime element?" she asked Metro officials. "This is something that I'm concerned about."

Redondo Beach resident Barry Ogle, who lives near the Galleria, concurred.

"Yes, there is a problem with the bad element coming into town," Ogle said. "Since that mall's opening, they've tried to set it on fire; they've shot at people; they've killed one … person around the corner from my house."

David Gonzalez said that transients allegedly from the Galleria frequent his neighborhood next door in Redondo.

"They've thrown rocks at our windows," Gonzalez said.

Jenya Romanovsky, who told attendees she had been riding public transportation since she was 13, took umbrage at that remark when it was her turn to speak.

"I don't throw rocks," she said, noting that she was the sort of person who would probably be riding the rail line. "I don't walk on lawns."

Hermosa Beach Patch columnist Joe Galliani, who is a South Bay Bicycle Coalition board member, dismissed the concerns that the Green Line would lead to an increase in crime in the area.

"I've heard a lot of anecdotal information about the bad, scary element of people who this is going to bring into our neighborhood," he said. "I would challenge the people that say that to show us some data that proves that, because to my knowledge of light rail in this area, in Portland, in Seattle, in all the other areas where it's gone in, it's increased property values, it's increased local businesses, and it's been a boon to the community.

"

“So the fear factor, while it may be an effective tactic to use in a meeting like this, I don't think it's true, and I haven't seen any real, empirical data that proves that," he added.

The final speaker of the night, Terry Destefano, said that she was offended by the "talk about an 'element.'"

"Who is this element that we're talking about?" she asked. "Remember, we're all somebody else's element. It almost sounds like some polite, racist term."

After public comment, Lamm took the time to address some of the points brought up by the speakers.

As far as a possible increase in crime goes, he said, project officials were analyzing the data with police.

The earliest construction would start on the project would be 2014 under Metro's 30/10 initiative, which would require borrowing funds from the federal government, Lamm said.

Under the timeline for Measure R, a half-cent sales tax passed by voters in late 2008, construction would start in 2028, and the project would be complete by 2035.