NORTHRIDGE : Proposed Preschool Withstands Appeal

A proposed Northridge preschool and day-care center won a tentative victory after a city zoning panel failed to support an appeal against it Tuesday. But opponents didn’t even take the time to rise from their chairs before declaring their intention to challenge the decision further.

Gloria Rothenberg, past president of the North Valley Homeowners’ Federation, said the group will file an appeal to the Los Angeles City Council to prevent Sherri Segre, a Northridge day-care center operator, from converting a home into a preschool for 36 children in the 18800 block of Devonshire Street.

In December, Segre won preliminary approval for a conditional-use permit for the school. Homeowners took their appeal to the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals, but Tuesday’s 2-2 vote by the board means that Segre will get her permit unless the homeowners persuade the City Council to take action.

Segre may face a tough battle if the case goes before the council. The homeowners have succeeded in winning over City Councilman Hal Bernson, chairman of the influential Planning and Land-Use Committee.

The case pitted a group of retirees against Segre, herself the mother of a young child. It is one of several recent cases in which proposed child-care centers met substantial neighborhood opposition.

The North Valley homeowners argued that there were already plenty of child-care centers in the area and that Segre’s property, with its circular driveway opening onto Devonshire Street, would cause traffic snarls. And they argued that approval of the school would open the door to additional commercial uses in the neighborhood.

“It’s not that we don’t like children,” said neighbor Char Faber. “It’s just that if you let one thing go. . . .”

But John Parker, the associate zoning administrator who reviewed the case, said Segre’s property was in a “perfect location” because the neighborhood is neither too quiet nor too busy.

Board Chairman Peter Weil and James Silcott voted to deny the appeal. Member Chris Kezios and Joyce Perkins voted to support it.