Responsibility Is Key for Pierce

Now it’s time for the Los Angeles Community College District to get down to business and finally decide how best to develop open land at Pierce College. For months, the school’s 240-acre farm has been the subject of intense debate as neighbors and college administrators argue over its future. College administrators want to develop the farm in an effort to close the school’s $2.5-million operating deficit. Neighbors and other farm supporters argue that the land represents a piece of the San Fernando Valley’s agricultural past that ought to be preserved.

The Times recognizes the farmland at the southwest corner of DeSoto Avenue and Victory Boulevard as a valuable community resource--a rare spot of open space in a ragged urban landscape. But it is also one of Pierce’s most valuable assets. Ignoring its potential to generate revenue would be a gross administrative oversight--one that threatens the long-term viability of Pierce’s academic programs. Sensible development, intelligently managed, promises to help lift Pierce out of the red and keep its students in the know.

Last week, the Community College District received five bids for the future of the farm. They range from golf courses to a farm for medical plants. Two of the proposals--both from advocates seeking to save the farm--likely will be disqualified because they did not include the required $250,000 deposit. Another may not meet the school’s income threshold, which requires any project on the land to generate at least $800,000 a year. Both of the remaining projects include golf courses as part of their plans, but differ dramatically in scale.

One developer would build new facilities that could be used to modernize Pierce’s agricultural programs. The other proposes adding a hotel and conference center as well as research and development space. The latter project would generate $10 million more than required by Pierce over the next 20 years. Clearly, it has the higher economic potential. But this debate has never been purely about dollars. Otherwise, why not pave over the entire farm and throw up a few more big-box retailers?

As an academic institution with long ties to the Valley, Pierce must develop its land responsibly and balance its financial needs with the desires of the community it serves. As administrators sort through the proposals and begin to rank them, they must remember that the bottom line is not always the right one to follow. Any development for Pierce should make money to support the school, but the development itself also should support the school. The Times has endorsed proposals to include agricultural facilities in a farm development program as a way to move forward without abandoning tradition. That support continues.