Solution Sought in Sherman Oaks : Private School’s Traffic Irks Neighbors

Thirteen years ago, Shirley and Eddie Hart achieved a longtime dream by purchasing an eight-room house shaded by jacaranda trees on Stansbury Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

But now, they say, their piece of paradise has become a parking lot for students attending a private school for the affluent that sits in a cul-de-sac at the end of the avenue.

Several times a day, Hart’s generally tranquil street is clogged by traffic from The Buckley School, whose students have included the children of Paul Newman, Quincy Jones, Telly Savalas and other celebrities, as well as those of middle-class professionals. Tuition for each of its 240 high school students is $6,425 per year. The school has an enrollment of 750.

Neighbors are seeking a hearing before the city Zoning and Planning Commission, and a representative of City Councilman Joel Wachs is scheduled to meet with angry residents at Hart’s house Monday morning.

Built in 1967, the school offers bus service for its students, who range from nursery school through senior year in high school. But many students drive their own cars or are chauffeured to school by parents.

As a result, residents like Hart say, they must contend with noise, exhaust fumes, student cars blocking their driveways and mailboxes, litter and speeding cars. Some residents, such as Alice Connolly, worry that the heavy traffic might block emergency vehicles in the event of a fire or earthquake. They contend the problem has affected the values of their homes.

“We saved our money to be able to better ourselves and buy ourselves a very expensive residential house in a nice neighborhood south of Ventura Boulevard,” said Hart, a grandmother and part-time psychiatric clinic administrator.

“This was our dream house, our palace, and it isn’t anymore. Now we want to escape it.”

The school’s headmaster, Walter H. Baumhoff, was out of the country and could not be reached for comment, but other school officials acknowledged the traffic and parking problems, which they said they are working hard to solve.

“We have met with the neighbors and are terribly concerned. We are terribly sympathetic,” said Barbara Sheedy, the school’s development director. “We have to find more parking on campus. It’s that simple. There are more kids driving than ever before,” she said.

A recently formed school committee is exploring solutions, said Michael Courtney, dean of students and chairman of a second committee formed to soothe relations between the school and the neighbors.

Solutions being considered, school officials said, include:

Construction of new on-campus parking.

Providing a remote parking lot and busing students to and from school.

Restricting the number of students permitted to drive to school.

Offering car-pooling incentives to students.

In the meantime, Courtney monitored the neighborhood parking situation Tuesday. At least one student was asked to move a car that was blocking a driveway.

About 60 students have permits to drive to school, Courtney said. It is not unheard of for a student to be entrusted with the family Mercedes, he said. “You should see it around May or June when they all get their new cars for graduation,” said Beverly Froelich, who lives in the neighborhood. The traffic problem occurs before school, at lunch hour and after school, residents said, and sometimes on nights and weekends, when plays, athletics and other events are scheduled.

Founded in 1933 by Dr. Isabelle P. Buckley, the school stands in a verdant, 20-acre niche of the Santa Monica Mountains.

The school advertises high academic standards. First-graders take home an average of a half hour of homework every night. High school students are generally given three hours’ studying, school brochures say. The school boasts a ratio of one instructor for every 9.5 students, and an average class size of 13. Almost all of its students go on to college, the school advertises.