Neighbors to Speak Up at Hearing on Planned School

Two weeks after staging a protest against a proposed boarding school in Calabasas, residents of a nearby development are planning to attend a hearing of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday to voice their concerns.

The planning commission is considering whether to grant Mesivta of Greater Los Angeles permits to build a Jewish Orthodox boys’ school on Mureau Road, less than half a mile from Mountain View Estates, a community of 385 homeowners.

At least 30 homeowners are chartering a bus to go to the hearing, and others will meet them there, said Rusty Feldman, a Mountain View resident who is organizing the bus trip to downtown L.A.

In the meantime, Rabbi Shlomo Gottesman, the school’s director, said he has agreed to scale back the height of planned buildings facing Mureau Road. “We’ll move around some buildings so the shorter residential buildings will be closer to Mureau Road,” he said.

About 100 people attended an Aug. 10 demonstration at the proposed site of the school. Homeowners at that protest, timed to coincide with a site visit by county planning commissioners, said they did not oppose the school outright but were worried about the removal of 24 oak trees on the property, the size of the proposed school, and other environmental and safety issues.

“Nobody’s really opposed to it,” Feldman said. “I think it’s just the size, the amount of traffic, that kind of thing.”

Wednesday’s hearing is open to the public. Planning commissioners will hear neighbors’ concerns, and if there is time, Mesivta’s rebuttal, said Julie Moore, county case planner. The commission may vote on the permits, but members could decide they need more information first.

“Given that there’s this much opposition and the applicant may possibly redesign the project,” Moore said, “I would think they would continue the hearing.”

The hearing will be Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Los Angeles County Hall of Records, 320 W. Temple St., Room 150, Los Angeles.