Swim School Loses a Round in Zoning Fight

Jim Herrick says he just wants to teach children how to swim. But some Valley Village residents say Herrick’s business is all wet--and noisy.

After a year of squabbling between the two sides, the neighbors got the upper hand Monday when a city zoning administrator denied Herrick’s request for a permit that would allow his swim school to continue operating legally in a Valley Village residential neighborhood.

At a hearing on the extension of a conditional-use permit for the Jim Herrick Swimming School, Associate Zoning Administrator Andrew B. Sincosky said the establishment is out of place in its current location and denied the request.

“It’s a commercial business,” Sincosky said. “It belongs in a commercial zone.”

For the past four years owner Jim Herrick has offered lessons to children in two back-yard swimming pools at his house in the 11800 block of Kling Street. He operated the school for three years without a permit before he applied for--and was granted--a conditional-use permit last year.

Herrick had applied for an extension of that permit and a relaxation of certain restrictions placed on the school.

Representatives of various homeowners groups testified that the school, which caters mostly to young children, is noisy and out of place in their neighborhood.

Neighbor Bill Mitchell said Herrick has failed to live up to the conditions of last year’s permit aimed at cutting down noise. “It’s still noisy,” Mitchell complained.

Others testified that the granting of the permit would serve as a signal to other business people who wish to operate in residential neighborhoods.

“Granting permission for this operation sets a very dangerous precedent,” said Jean Gillespie, vice president of the Valley Village Homeowners Assn.

“We’re trying to keep the nature of our neighborhood residential,” Gillespie said. “There’s been so many encroachments all around us.”

The conflict between the neighbors and Herrick goes back a year, when a city zoning administrator denied Herrick’s request for a conditional-use permit for the school. Herrick appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals, which overturned the zoning administrator’s decision and approved the permit. Opponents then appealed to the full City Council, which sustained the board’s decision favoring Herrick.

Herrick and his supporters testified Monday that the school provides a valuable service to the community and noted that drowning is one of the major causes of accidental death among young children nationwide.

“I believe in what I do,” Herrick said. “It’s the only real thing I know how to do.”

Clifford Kaye, who lives next to the Herrick house, supported the school.

“I don’t have any problem with the noise he generates,” Kaye said. “The Ventura Freeway is adjacent to all these properties. The noise generated from the Ventura Freeway far overshadows any noise being generated from any other area.”

Last year Councilman Joel Wachs recommended that the council allow the school to remain open.

“Ninety-five percent of the time we would be against a commercial use in a residential neighborhood,” said Tom Henry, Wachs’ aide. But Henry said the councilman supported the business because of the services it offered, likening it more to a school or a church.

Henry said the councilman would take a new look at the dispute. Herrick said he may appeal the administrator’s decision.