State Rejects College’s Plan to Buy Building to House Satellite Campus

State finance officials rejected Mission College’s new plan to acquire a satellite campus, but left open the possibility the school can retain a $4.7-million grant due to revert to the state Dec. 30.

Mission President William Norlund said the state rejected the school’s request Monday because it was too far removed from the original purpose of the grant, made in 1993, which was to complete the then 2-year-old campus.

For several years, Mission has tried to do that by obtaining county land occupied by El Cariso Golf Course.

The college promised to move the golf course to land straddling the Pacoima Wash, southeast of where El Cariso is now. That plan ran into stiff opposition from golfers, environmentalists, neighbors, hang gliders, equestrians, ballplayers and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

With time running out to spend the grant or give it back to the state, and no resolution in sight, Mission changed direction last week and set out to buy a building for the 7,000 new students the school expects in the next decade. The school was especially interested in the empty Sears building in San Fernando and had begun negotiations with the owners.

Now that option, too, is out.

“We’re disappointed that we weren’t able to acquire the land to expand the campus at this time, and I emphasize at this time,” Norlund said.

After getting new directions from the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees last week, Norlund said Mission will initiate a strategic planning process, bringing all interested groups together to recommend how the $4.7 million should be used.

Mission had planned to use the El Cariso land for four new classroom buildings, 1,000 additional parking spaces and 10 acres of open space.