Protesters Rally at Proposed School Site

Waving picket signs, dozens of Calabasas homeowners protested plans to build a boarding school near their homes on Mureau Road, as the county planners who will decide the property’s future toured the site Monday.

Mesivta of Greater Los Angeles is seeking zoning permits for a Jewish Orthodox boys’ school for 150 students at 25115 Mureau Road. The proposal requires the removal of two dozen oak trees and the widening of the road, said county planner Julie Moore.

Chanting “Save our trees,” about 100 residents of Mountain View Estates gathered at the school site as members of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission arrived.

Some supporters of the school--including other Mountain View residents and members of a Calabasas synagogue--also attended.

Regional Planning Commission Chairwoman Cheryl Vargo told residents they were welcome to accompany the tour but public testimony would not be taken.

A public hearing on the plan is scheduled Aug. 26.

Marla Wolfe, vice president of the Mountain View Estates Homeowners Assn., said her group does not oppose the school outright, but is concerned about the removal of oak trees, the size of the proposed school, traffic, drainage and other potential problems.

“Nothing’s been thoroughly investigated,” Wolfe said.

Other residents voiced concern about the proximity of a teenage boys’ boarding school to the young children who live at Mountain View. Helen Schwarz, mother of four, called the situation “a time bomb waiting to go off.”

Rabbi Shlomo Gottesman, the school’s director, said he is willing to consider redesigning aspects of the proposal, including possibly scaling down the height of a planned building along Mureau Road. He said traffic from the school, which will not permit students to have cars, would be minimal.

As for fears of roving teenage boys, the rabbi shook his head. “There is not one bad apple,” he said. “They’re all kids who have come to study.”

His wife, Bella Gottesman, added that the boys who would attend the school “live a different lifestyle” than other teenagers.

“Our life focuses around our Torah,” she said. “And our goal in life is to take the teachings of our Torah and apply them to our daily actions.”