Rancho P.V. Denies Archdiocese Bid to Sell Land Near College

For the second time in less than six months, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council effectively quashed a bid by the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to sell a vacant 3.9-acre lot next to Marymount College to a real estate developer who wants to build five custom homes there.

On a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Robert E. Ryan dissenting, the council on Tuesday denied a joint request by the archdiocese and Los Angeles-based S.D.Z. Land Co. asking the city to begin taking steps to allow residential development.

Current zoning laws permit only institutional uses, such as schools, churches and medical facilities.

Neal J. Blaney Jr., the director of construction and real estate for the archdiocese, said the archdiocese acquired the land nearly 20 years ago as a possible site for a parish but the area has since become surplus property. He said the intent now is to sell the land and use the proceeds to buy other property.

In denying the application, the council said the site, a gently sloping lot west of the college on Palos Verdes Drive East, might best serve neighboring residents by remaining vacant.

“A perfectly acceptable use of institutional land is buffer use,” Councilman Melvin W. Hughes said.

Ryan argued, however, that residents near the college might prefer the housing development to any possible institutional use, which he said would only exacerbate local traffic and parking problems.

“Keeping the (current zoning) is like playing Russian roulette,” Ryan warned. “You’re going to have something (built there) that’s far more intensive than five homes.”

The council denied a similar application by the archdiocese and S.D.Z. last October.