Resident
Coleen Sterritt said that, as far as advance warning of the school’s opening, there was “none whatsoever.” A Long Beach City College professor, Sterritt has been a homeowner there since 1997. The former Bienvenidos Children’s Center, which housed and educated abused and at-risk children at the site, was “a good neighbor,” Sterrritt said. “They were very accommodating to [the residents].”
“Sahag-Mesrob has been awful,” she said. “They’ve been very rude, and they just tell you what you want to hear … they have not been upfront at all.”
The problems are many, Sterritt said. Palm is a narrow street, not meant for the large amount of drop-off and pick-up traffic. Residents have been blocked in their driveways in the morning, Sterritt said. The school, which occupies about 2 /12 acres, has about 240 students presently and announced plans for 800, she said. The nearby St. Mark’s Episcopal School has about 350 students on five acres.
According to LA County’s Durbin, the school had filed for a CUP but was in the “preliminary appraisal” process. After the opening of the school drew complaints from the neighbors, a zoning inspector looked at the property, and issued a notice of violation Sept. 16. Such a violation says that the school has a 15 day period to comply with the violation, or they must close or be fined, Durbin said. Continued violation may result in criminal charges. In addition, the planning staff who were working on the CUP have halted the permitting process until the problems are resolved.
The only out for Sahag-Mesrob, Durbin said, was to apply for a “clean hands waiver.” Such a waiver essentially means the school pleads ignorance of the zoning laws, but such a waiver is not always automatically granted.
A source close to local government tells Altadenablog that the county supervisors are walking a delicate balance here: on one hand, they want to be responsive to the neighbor’s complaints, but they also don’t want to offend the local Armenian community.
There’s no word yet on if the school has informed parents of its predicament.
Sterritt, who helped write a flyer that has circulated through the neigborhood, is urging neighbors to contact the county supervisors, and planning and zoning departments quickly to register their complaints.
A call to Sahag-Mesrob seeking comment was not returned as of press time.
UPDATE 9/25 12 PM: Sterritt and Rachel Figuera, who made the presentation against the school’s plans at this month’s town council meeting, are circulating an updated new flyer (pdf document).
Dan said…
I’m not sure there’s a local Armenian community to offend in the immediate neighborhood. The couple next door to us is Armenian, but their only child just turned two years old. And I don’t recall meeting any Armenians at the annual neighborhood barbecue/potluck up at the top of Highland Ave.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 03:07 PM
rmf said…
You might investigate why Sahag-Mesrob had to move from their previous location. Sounds like they rushed kids in there so it would make the local community look bad when they protested the presence of the school. Kind of like using the kids as a human shield. Sketchy.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 03:53 PM
Michael Reilly said…
Like all of the residents around this school I was suddenly subjected, along with my neighbors to the onslaught of dozens of cars blocking raymond street and the cul de sac adjacent to the property on which I live. The noise of a couple of hundred children running around the adjacent property with seemingly no real supervision was incredibly overbearing and disruptive to the normal tranquility of the area. It has, if anything gotten subsequently worse despite assurances from the school that they are attempting to address the concerns expressed in the form of appeals and protestations
On learning that this school was suddenly functioning with some two hundred and fifty odd children and some fifty staff without having performed an EIR or being granted a proper CUP was to say the least infuriating in its arrogance by it’s total disregard for the residents of the area, not to mention usurping the planning laws.
The degree of secrecy to which the real estate transaction was conducted between Bienvenidos and the Sahag Mersrob school with regard to informing the immediate community is totally unacceptable (the armenian press aside)
Those individuals involved in brokering this transaction knew full well the sensitivities and concerns this properties use represented to the community and they should be taken to task for their selfish self interest. This, combined with the knowledge these individuals would have had with regard to the strict limits of the existing Bienvenidos CUP bespeaks a total disregard for the consequences of their actions in consideration of the area and is nothing short of criminal in it’s negligence.
I have made representations to all the appropriate authorities who are charged with the responsibility of overseeing the interests, safety and welfare of our community and I would strongly urge all those in Altadena who share my regard for this area to do likewise
Doubtless they will attempt to appeal for a clean hands waiver by suggesting that they had no option but to act illegally in order to provide a site for the children’s education and have a continuing need to do so. An appeal of this sort, in my opinion would be disingenuous and insincere, in as much as they should never have attempted to circumvent the planning and usage requirements for such a school in the first place, knowing full well the potential disruptive consequences to the children should such action be challenged. In doing so they demonstrated a callous disregard for the well being of children whom they supposedly “love” and subsequently placed an unacceptable burden on this communities having to challenge their right to act with impunity.
This was clearly a act of self interest by conducting their activities without consultation or regard for the impact it was clearly going to have. A cynical person might suggest that the intent of these people was to use the children attending this private school as pawns in order to force what would otherwise be an unacceptable manipulation of the zoning and use laws?
It would be no suprise to me if many if not all the parents of these children were unaware of the fact that they are unwittingly participating in the illegal activity of this school. This alone would indicate clear intent at deception by the individuals running this school. In a word this is Unacceptable in every sense of public decency and respect for the rules that society attempts to abide by.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 04:48 PM
Hugo said…
There were flyers passed out for the barbecue early in the summer. My wife and I both attended. I was clear when I spoke with the owners of the school about Palm being such a narrow street and that people love to speed on our street (Captain Blow is well aware of this. I have sent him several e-mails regarding this problem).
And what we were told was that we were going to be updated with the progress of the school, and that the completion would take about a year or two. They seemed to be honest. They wanted the best for the school and our neighborhood.
That was the last communication we had. And then one morning, as I was leaving for work, I saw the parade of cars. We had no idea the school was opened.
It should have been handled in a more professional and ethical manner. And now all this.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 06:18 PM