WOODLAND HILLS : Plans for Care Center at School Denied

In a victory for a well-organized group of Woodland Hills residents, a Los Angeles city zoning administrator Tuesday rejected a proposal to use part of a closed middle school as a private job training and day-care center.

“The impact of the project would not be compatible with the characteristics of the neighborhood,” said City Zoning Administrator Horace Tramel. “It would also be bringing a lot of impact on people who don’t see any of the benefits locally.”

Tramel said notice of the decision to deny the application by Social Services Network Inc. to use about 15% of Charles Evans Hughes Jr. High School as a vocational and child-care center will be mailed to local residents and others later this week.

The ruling comes after a hearing during which City Councilwoman Laura Chick and dozens of residents testified that the project would shatter the tranquillity of the neighborhood.

In making his decision, Tramel said he considered residents’ concerns that the project would increase traffic on the residential streets and noise during the planned Saturday and evening classes.

It was unclear whether the Los Angeles-based applicant will appeal the decision. The decision comes as a blow to the cash-poor Los Angeles Unified School District, which would have received $44,000 a year from the lease. The district cannot appeal the decision.

Hughes Junior High, 5607 Capistrano St., has been closed since 1983. It may be reopened as a middle school as early as the late 1990s, Friedman said.