by TImothy Rutt

After a hard-fought effort to locate a satellite campus in Altadena, the Arroyo Pacific Academy has thrown in the towel.

The school let an April 18 deadline pass to appeal to the county Board of Supervisors.  In March, the county Planning Commission denied APA's request for a conditional use permit to operate a school at 183-205 E. Palm Street.  The request was also rejected by the Altadena Town Council and Land Use Commission twice before.

APA President Philip Clarke said in an email:  "After all the hearings and meetings I decided not to proceed with plans for a school in Altadena and therefore will not file an appeal to drag out the process. I enjoyed meeting some wonderful people in the Altadena area and wish them every blessing and success."

APA also recently took a $2.8 million Small Business Administration loan to develop a second site close to their current Arcadia campus.  

Clarke said that developing the new Arcadia property was not planned as a replacement for an Altadena location: "We had always planned to develop our school in Arcadia also and our new building there is just part of our expansion plans for fitness, arts, career and technology education facilities," Clarke wrote.  "Our current building in Arcadia is at maximum enrollment and we needed more room to accept the increased applications from overseas as well as the local areas, including Altadena."

Still up in the air is what Clarke plans to do with the Altadena site, which he owns.