School Seeks to Build Campus on Site : Horse Owners Fight to Save Stable

A group of Chatsworth horse owners is fighting a private high school’s plan to build a school, gymnasium, football stadium and baseball field on the site of a riding and boarding stable.

Residents of The Trails Equestrian Estates have gathered more than 400 signatures protesting a proposal by Los Angeles Lutheran High School to build the school on 10 acres of land, which includes the Stoney Point Riding Center, one of the San Fernando Valley’s few remaining public stables.

The group’s petitions were turned over to Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, who has voiced support for the homeowners, said Edolie Baur, a leader in the movement to stop the school’s plan.

Residents fear their peaceful, affluent neighborhood will experience noise, traffic and parking problems if the school is built. The school proposes to build a facility for 400 students just east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, north of Chatsworth Street and south of picturesque Stoney Point Park.

Not a Good Mix

“I never would have bought a house here in a million years if I knew there was going to be a high school there,” said Baur, who moved to the neighborhood one year ago from Sherman Oaks, in part to find a place to board her two horses. “Horses and high schools don’t mix.”

Baur pointed at an equestrian trail, near the site of the proposed school, that snakes up into the Santa Monica Mountains and connects with a Valley-wide trail system.

“Can you imagine the horses riding by with high schoolers all around them driving their cars?” Baur asked.

Baur also expressed concern that students would be drawn to Stoney Point Park, a scenic, boulder-strewn area frequented by rock climbers. The city park is the site of frequent serious climbing accidents.

Alfred Roth, executive director of Los Angeles Lutheran High School, said the property sought for the school is now in escrow. He would not disclose the purchase price, but said the sale is contingent on the city issuing a conditional-use permit for the project. The permit is necessary because the area is zoned for single-family houses on half-acre lots, with horse keeping allowed. The school has not yet applied for such a permit.

Ralph Crouch, Bernson’s planning deputy, said it is unlikely the permit would be granted if neighbors object.

“If people protest in any considerable numbers at all, it’s almost always denied,” Crouch said. “The minute the church people came, we were getting community opposition.”

Roth acknowledged that the school has been told by Bernson that it will be a difficult fight, but said “that’s still our first choice.”

The school hopes to persuade the community that problems can be minimized, he said.

“We would like to think we would not interfere with the riding on their trails. We know there is a serious traffic problem already, but I don’t believe that we would contribute that much more by the size of the school,” Roth said.

“I guess I would like to think that the nature of our student body is we do not create lots of noise. Of course, any car driving by is going to create a lot of noise.”

But, he added, “We control our students here. We have a closed campus. So the noise would only occur before and after school.”

18-Month Search for Campus

The Lutheran school, which was founded in Inglewood in 1953, has been searching for a new campus for 18 months after moving from a Sun Valley campus that was aging, too large and required too much upkeep, Roth said. The school is now in cramped, temporary quarters in Mission Hills.

The school has 29 employees, including 14 teachers, and 119 students in grades nine through 12, some of whom commute from Palmdale, Alhambra and Simi Valley, Roth said. But because of expansion plans, school officials want a facility large enough for 400 students, he said.

His goal is to start construction by spring and open the school next fall.

But Frances Alascano, a 12-year resident of the neighborhood, said the project would set a precedent for other non-residential development in the area.

“Chatsworth is one of the last bastions of open land in the Valley,” she said. “People come from all over the Los Angeles area to use our trails and board their horses. We are a major recreaction-use community. We, the horse people, are always in battle against people who want to develop this area.”

‘Leave Us Alone’

“We’re tired of being pushed and chipped away at,” Baur said. “They pushed us to the outer limits of the city. Well, we’re here now and that’s fine. But now leave us alone.” The Stoney Point Riding Center occupies four acres of the proposed school site. Another six acres, separately owned, is a vacant field, leased by the stable and used for horseback riding, Alascano said.

The manager of the business, Val Moore, said she has operated stables in the Valley for 15 years, but has been forced by development to move from place to place.

The riding center provides lessons for about 200 students, including participants in several city Parks and Recreation Department programs, and the Special Olympics equestrian event, Moore said.

“This is the last gasp. If I get moved out of here, I’m going to leave the Valley altogether,” she said.