by Timothy Rutt
National politics likes to classify voters and politicians and “red” or “blue.”
The same thing is happening in Altadena, depending on where you fall on the Arroyo Pacific Academy.
At previous meetings of the land use committee and town council, opponents of the school have marked themselves with red shirts, reflecting the neighborhood’s ubiquitous crimson “No School on Palm” signs. At last night’s standing-room-only Land Use Committee meeting, the room was awash in blue Arroyo Pacific Academy T-shirts as the Arcadia school revisited its pitch to create a satellite campus at 183 E. Palm St.
The Land Use Committee and the Town Council had both turned down the school’s earlier bid for a conditional use permit. Tuesday’s meeting was a hearing on AP’s revised plan, which cuts the maximum number of students at the Altadena campus from 250 to 200.
AP President Philip Clarke assured the committee that the reduced student load, carpooling, a staggered start and end to the school day, and holding physical education and sports near their Arcadia location would alleviate the concerns of neighborhood residents, still smarting from the location’s illegal use as a school in 2008-09.
But his assurances didn’t move many of the residents, who maintain a strong opposition to having a school on the site.
Coleen Sterritt, of the Palm Street Area Resident’s Association, said that “we’re very fortunate we had [the previous school] move in there … we know because of our exprience that the traffic and noise was a problem for a school of this size.”
Clarke maintained that the school would not involve any new construction, that they would be using buildings that have been in that configuration since 1994. He said that the property would have less use as a school than it had had with previous tenants, and would not change the character of the neighborhood at all.
Several opposing speakers pointed to the Altadena community standards plan, which designated the area as a residential location. Some also pointed out that a collection of letters sent in support of the school were largely form letters, and many not from Altadena residents.
During the public comment portion, committee chair Mark Goldschmidt alternated “pro” (blue) and “anti” (red) speakers. Many of the “blue” side pointed out AP’s complaint-free history at its Arcadia location, their own positive experiences in the school as parents or students, and Clarke’s investment and maintenance of the property and support of the Altadena community.
But the arguments didn’t move the opposition, who favor a less-intense use for the property, as a hospice or retreat center.
Tuesday’s meeting was a public hearing only. The committee will tackle whether to approve the school’s CUP application in February, after which it will go to the town council.
