Heschel West school finally okayed
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

The city of Agoura Hills lost the war in its effort to stop Heschel West Day School from being built next to Old Agoura. City officials say the new battle will be to alleviate the financial burden on the city and make the project more compatible with its equestrian neighborhood.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved Heschel's final environmental impact report and supplemental environmental analysis Nov. 27, leaving Old Agoura Homeowners Association members angry and Agoura Hills' officials with diminished options.

The private Jewish school will serve up to 750 students in a multibuilding complex situated in an unincorporated area of Agoura governed by the county, not the city.

"We are very pleased the board of supervisors has granted approval for the school, and we look forward to working with the city of Agoura Hills and our neighbors in Old Agoura to make this project an asset for the entire community," said Heschel spokesperson Rick Wentz.

In his motion of approval, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky listed 29 additional conditions and modifications to the project in an effort to balance the needs of Jewish families who are expected to enroll their children at the school with the public trust- many Old Agoura residents don't want their equestrian lifestyle disturbed by added traffic and noise.

City officials are also concerned with issues of safety, neighborhood compatibility and the financial burden of a project over which they have no control.

Yaroslavsky said the school conforms to the North Area Plan, complies with county zoning laws and "would not harm the health, peace, comfort or welfare of the surrounding community."

City officials disagree. "It's a no-win situation here," said City Manager Greg Ramirez. He said Agoura Hills has been allowed to provide input but will not be granted final approval of any conditions.

"The devil's in the details," he said, and details are lacking.

Agoura Hills Senior Planner Allison Cook said several sections of the approval motion were unclear. Yaroslavsky said the school is required to prepare an emergency plan checklist as an "additional safety mandate . . . to create a safe environment for its students and faculty, as well as cooperate with the community, the city of Agoura Hills and the fire and sheriff's departments to ensure an adequate and appropriate response to any emergency."

The document, however, does not allow for either department to sign off on the school's safety plan, Cook said.

The ins and outs

How students will arrive and depart from the school is at issue. If the campus is built to accommodate the expected number of students, a traffic signal or roundabout must be constructed next to the 101 Freeway off Chesebro Road.

Yaroslavsky introduced an interim plan in January, and the recent approval motion includes a short-term solution. If enrollment is capped at 390, school officials can sidestep the signal/roundabout issue. A resulting car pool and bus plan includes a route through Old Agoura, planner Cook said, but any traffic route through Old Agoura would be unacceptable to city officials, Ramirez said.

Agoura Hills' City Attorney Craig Steele said the interim plan does not provide adequate details.

"The conclusion in the supplemental environmental analysis improperly supports avoidance of traffic mitigation and implies support for the loop access, which is the least popular access for the city," Steele wrote in a letter to the county's Department of Regional Planning.

At maximum enrollment, Cook said daily car trips to and from the school would increase by 2,638.

According to Yaroslavsky, options to ease traffic include either a roundabout or a threephase traffic signal at the school's entrance on Canwood Street. The choice will be up to the California Department of Transportation, he said.

"The school should therefore be allowed to open if it implements either the traffic signal or roundabout," his motion said.

He said the school must pay its "fair share of the costs and continue to work with the city of Agoura Hills, the county and Caltrans to design and build roadway improvements that address the area's cumulative traffic problems and that will ultimately improve the operation of the local intersections."

It comes down to cash

Issues of traffic and safety aside, city officials have doubts about how much Heschel will contribute to future necessary improvements.

"They want to pay ($2.5 million) over 25 years," Ramirez said. "It's too long of a time frame." But he said Yaroslavsky has built in a bit of flexibility on the issue, and the city hopes to negotiate a shorter time for full payment.

Sharon Robinson, an Old Agoura resident, spoke on behalf of the homeowners association. "We believe the board of supervisors acted beyond the scope of its legitimate discretion when it passed the motion directing staff to prepare the final documents required for approval of the conditional use permit."

"Our evidence," Robinson said, "indicates the present site is not a safe and prudent place for a school, and we are alarmed that the board will permit Heschel to build without a fire evacuation plan in place for Old Agoura.

"Moreover, the board has approved use of Chesebro Road as the school exit if the proposed road reconfigurations at the freeway interchange are not complete within four years," Robinson said.

Legal action considered

"Such a use of Chesebro Road creates an even greater fire evacuation problem," she said, "adds a significant amount of traffic to a narrow two-lane road frequented by bicyclists and equestrians accessing the national parkland and flies in the face of the intent of the county's North Area Plan.

"(The HOA) is exploring its legal options and remedies at this time and has not yet ruled out the possibility of a lawsuit against the county," Robinson said.

Steele said all legal options remain open to the city. "The supervisor's action is not final. This is the greatest example of why the city became a city. None of the people making the decision will have to drive through Old Agoura on a school day."

If the board adopts the approval resolution, which it is expected to do within 30 to 90 days following the Nov. 27 action, the Agoura Hills City Council will have 30 days to decide whether to legally challenge Los Angeles County.

"Unfortunately, supervisor Yaroslavsky's plan to put the Heschel project in place doesn't in any way alleviate the city's traffic concerns or safety concerns," said Agoura Hills Mayor Dan Kuperberg. "I am personally very disappointed that our point of view was not taken more seriously."