Council OKs Swim School in Residential Area Despite Protests

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to allow a swim school to operate in a North Hollywood residential area after hearing how costly it is to run such schools in commercial zones and grim data on child drownings.

On a 10-0 vote, the council agreed to grant a conditional use permit to let James Herrick continue operating his swim school at 11846 Kling St. until at least Sept. 30, 1993. The council action overrode a city zoning official who had ruled that Herrick’s commercial swim school was incompatible with a residential area. The vote cheered more than two dozen youthful pupils of Herrick’s school and their parents but disheartened neighbors who labeled the school a noisy nuisance.

Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents the area, backed the swim school, saying it has met all previous city-imposed conditions on its operations and performed a welcome teaching service.

The council action does not foreclose Herrick from seeking a permit extension beyond Sept. 30, 1993.

Herrick has taught swimming for 29 years and for the last seven has conducted his business in the back yard of the Kling Street property, where he lives. Under conditions imposed by the city, Herrick is limited to four children per lesson, with lessons only on weekdays. He must provide off-street parking for his patrons.

Attorney Fred Gaines, representing Herrick, said his client performs a useful public service when drowning is one of the leading causes of accidental death to children under 5 years old.

Moreover, the cost of land has made it prohibitively expensive for such schools to operate on commercially zoned property, Gaines told the lawmakers. Such costs explain why there are now only four--once there were 20--swim schools in the San Fernando Valley, he added.

“I almost drowned twice. Please don’t do that to my little boy,” said Sandi Padnos, a North Hollywood parent testifying for the school.

But others urged the council to disbelieve what they said was the myth the school has sought to perpetuate about itself.

Lori Dinkin, co-president of the Valley Village Homeowner Assn., said the swim school is located in an area where single-family houses sell for half a million dollars.

“A swim school is a wonderful thing,” Dinkin told the council. “But this is no small back-yard service but a large commercial business . . . a lucrative large business . . . . This is absolutely terrible. We seem to have no rights in our homes.”