L.A. County approves Heschel West school for Old Agoura





The Los Angeles Department of Regional Planning last week voted in favor of Heschel West, a Jewish day school that will be built in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County east of Chesebro Road near Old Agoura.

The 166,000-square-foot, nine-building school, intended for 750 kindergarten through eighth-grade students, will be located on 73 acres in an area just outside the jurisdiction of Agoura Hills.

Although the project has been approved conceptually, the final environmental impact report will take several months to complete and review, officials said.

“The unanimous vote by an impartial panel of planning experts, who have heard all the arguments, is a clear indicator of the overwhelming community interests in favor of this project,” Rick Wentz, vice president of the Heschel West board of directors.

“After five public hearings and so many modifications to our project to address the desires of our opponents and the city of Agoura Hills, it is time for all sides to move forward in a constructive way,” Wetnz said.

But some local residents and city officials who fought against the school for several years are unhappy with the decision.

Mike Kamino, Agoura Hills director of planning and community development, outlined 52 concerns to the regional planning board earlier in the year, including traffic and safety, visual impacts, noise, fire hazards, water runoff and other potential problems.

City officials will have the opportunity to appeal the project if the final environmental impact report is deemed unsatisfactory.

Jim Thorsen, Agoura Hills’ assistant manager, attended the regional planning meeting and said it’s likely that some of the city’s concerns about Heschel will not be addressed.

Increased traffic from the school is one of the city’s biggest fears, said Thorsen, who pointed out that drivers must reach the school using the Palo Comado and Chesebro Road off-ramps from the 101 Freeway.

“The traffic reports state that 2,700 vehicles will come into and out of this site,” Thorsen said. “The only way to access the site is through our city.”

Old Agoura resident Larry Brown echoed Thorsen’s concerns.

“We have heard such preposterous comments from Heschel proponents as the school ‘will actually improve the flow’ of traffic,” Brown said. “I have yet to see an extra 3,000 cars a day ‘improve’ the flow of traffic.”

Kim Szalay, a county regional planner, said the city’s concerns will be addressed. The city’s comments as well as those from other agencies will be taken into consideration before the “final, final decision” is made.

Szalay said that the regional board, not the city of Agoura Hills, has the final say.

“This is far from over,” Brown said. “It is sure to be appealed to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, and no matter who prevails there, I presume this is going to end up being finally settled in a court of law.”

Other community members are worried about health issues relating to the school.

Mary Wiesbrock, chairperson for the environmental group Save Open Space (SOS), noted that Heschel has not completed a contamination testing of the site.

“(The school) is in the vicinity of a class one, unlined toxic landfill,” Wiesbrock said. She worries that if testing is not done, school children may be at risk from toxic fumes that leak into the classrooms. Wiesbrock said the nearby Calabasas Land400,000 tons of toxic liquid wastes.

Wiesbrock and other SOS members want Heschel to conduct a risk assessment. The last risk study was in 1989, she said.

Wiesbrock charged that the regional board’s decision was illegal.

“They made a decision without a final EIR and without responses to public comment,” Wiesbrock said, explaining that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires several steps to be taken prior to approving such a project.

“This is a very severe CEQA violation, because public input was in vain since they already committed to the project,” said Frank Angel, attorney for the Old Agoura Homeowners’ Association. “It’s basically a done deal as far as the regional planning commission is concerned and that’s not the way the statemandated environmental review process is supposed to work.”

But Brian Greenberg, former Heschel board president, called the school “an asset for the whole community” and said he’s gratified by the county’s approval.

“We have worked so hard and at such great expense, to address all the various concerns and desires of our future neighbors,” Greenberg said. “It is gratifying that the planning commission publicly acknowledged all these efforts and has given its unanimous support to this project.

“We will continue to reach out to our neighbors in Old Agoura and the city of Agoura Hills to make this a campus that is widely recognized as an asset for the whole community,” Greenberg said.


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