Prep School’s Request to Block Street Denied : Barricades: Parking, not concern over students’ safety, motivated a private school to ask for permanent barricade of Langdon Avenue, a committee decides.

A private school’s request to permanently barricade a Van Nuys street to keep out drug dealers should be turned down because the school’s administrators are actually interested only in gaining additional parking, a Los Angeles City Council committee concluded Wednesday.

The Public Works Committee voted 2 to 0 to reject a request by Montclair Prep to permanently close a half-block section of Langdon Avenue between Cabrito Road and Lanark Street.

The full council will consider the issue in coming weeks, but it is likely to side with the committee and with Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents the area and opposes the closure.

It was Wachs who successfully urged the council late last year to barricade a 30-square-block area just north of the school to curtail drive-by drug traffic. But the councilman opposed the school’s request Wednesday because he said barricading Langdon Avenue would create traffic problems and benefit only the school, said Arline DeSanctis, his chief deputy.

The four-acre campus could improve security simply by erecting a fence around the portion east of Langdon, where most of the buildings are located, DeSanctis said.

“Barricading is something you do as a last resort to protect an entire community,” DeSanctis said. “The real issue here is that the school has outgrown its site and wants to expand and have more parking, not safety.”

The decision outraged school officials, who said many of the 400 girls and boys who attend seventh grade through high school at the institution have been approached by drug dealers and gang members. Officials acknowledged that the school would gain 20 additional parking spaces if Langdon Avenue were closed.

“I’ll personally hold Joel Wachs responsible if a student here gets hurt,” said Carol Stevens, a Montclair Prep administrator.

“We’re going to fight this in the full council,” said Edward R. O’Carroll, a lobbyist hired by the school. “Montclair students here have the right to have a safe place to learn.”

Los Angeles Police Capt. Sidney Mills said the school is located in a high-crime area where prostitution, burglary and drug dealing are common. Mills declined to comment on the proposed street closure.

In recommending against permanently blocking off Langdon Avenue, the council committee sided with the city Bureau of Engineering and the Transportation and Planning departments, who said the closure would create traffic problems for nearby businesses, DeSanctis said.

Yvonne Williams, a parent who pays the $6,000 annual tuition to send her daughter to the school, said Wednesday she may withdraw her if the council turns down the school’s request. “The prostitutes are out at 8 a.m. when I drop her off and it’s not unusual while the kids are in gym to see someone stealing their cars,” Williams said.