Pierce College Land Program Draws Fire From 2 Directions

Opposition is growing to a Jewish group’s proposal to use surplus Pierce College land in Woodland Hills for a $17-million retirement village.

Nearby residents are demanding that single-family houses be built on the leased college land instead of the 303 retirement apartments proposed by an Encino-based Jewish congregation.

At the same time, college students are questioning the propriety of the lease negotiated 19 months ago between the Los Angeles Community College District and the Shir Chadash reform congregation.

A student newspaper at the district’s East Los Angeles College has charged that college officials lost $21 million by disposing of the surplus Pierce land at “far below market value.”

Although district officials have denied the allegation, Woodland Hills homeowners say charges outlined by the East Los Angeles College Campus News are further proof that the retirement village idea is a bad one.

5 1/2 Acres Needed

Shir Chadash synagogue officials unveiled their development plans to homeowners May 4. They said they only need 5 1/2 acres of their leased 17 1/2-acre college site for a long-planned temple.

By subleasing the excess land to a private company called Retirement Inns of America, the synagogue could raise money to help pay its $3-million, 75-year lease to the college district, according to temple leaders.

Residents who live in several 30-year-old neighborhoods next to the site east of the West Valley Occupational Center have indicated that they do not object to a religious temple being built on the land.

But a newly completed poll of 381 families in the area shows that only 3% favor construction of the retirement apartments. The surveyed residents overwhelmingly wanted the land to remain as publicly owned open space--although 37% endorsed construction of single-family homes if development must occur.

The survey, which was hand-delivered to about 600 households, was conducted by the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, which Friday turned the results over to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus. Picus, who represents the area, was asked to “oppose this disruptive proposal” for retirement apartments.

A spokeswoman for Picus said Tuesday that the councilwoman has not had a chance to review the survey.

But the findings were described as proof that Woodland Hills residents feel that rezoning the site for multiple-family housing would be “totally out of character to the surrounding single-family community and must not be allowed,” said Robert Gross, a vice president of the homeowner association.

Criticism of the 1986 lease was outlined in a May 23 Campus News report that alleged that the college district lost more money in the deal “than the entire annual budget for East Los Angeles College.”

According to the report, the district relied on an outdated 1983 appraisal of the 17 1/2 acres when negotiating with the temple. Moreover, the report alleged, the district failed to demand a lease that allowed for periodic reappraisals.

Such a procedure could have allowed lease adjustments that could have led to an eventual profit of as much as $24 million by the end of the 75-year lease, the report concluded.

1 Bid Received

The report also alleged that the district failed to adequately advertise the fact that the land was available for lease. As a result, only one bid was received--the one from Shir Chadash, the campus newspaper charged.

A college district spokesman disputed those claims.

Norm Schneider, director of communications for the nine-campus district, said officials had “current information on land values” when they put the unused Pierce College land on the market. He said the district followed its normal procedure in advertising the land by placing a notice in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, a legal publication “that contractors and developers read.”

Schneider said the student newspaper miscalculated the potential profit available from the Woodland Hills site.

“There was a very, very clear process followed,” he said. “We had good, experienced advice that we followed. We still feel comfortable with the deal.”

Schneider said the district does not relish being caught in the middle of a dispute between Shir Chadash and Woodland Hills residents, although district officials have final veto power over development of the land.

But in terms of the lease, Schneider said: “We did not screw up. We did not get rooked. We were very careful about that property.”