Sierra Club Sues to Block Pepperdine Expansion
Hoping to block a $130-million Pepperdine University expansion project, the Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit to overturn California Coastal Commission approval of grading for the construction.
More than 4 1/2 million cubic yards of earth will have to be moved on the mountainous northern side of the campus in the two-year building effort that university officials hope to start next year.
Sierra Club officials cite geologic instability and concerns that the rare California needlegrass plant might be threatened by the development in the lawsuit filed against the commission last week in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Commissioners rejected their own staff’s recommendation in approving the grading. The action angered environmentalists, said Marcia Hanscom, a Malibu resident who is a leader of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter. “Pepperdine is already clearly not in harmony with its surrounding natural environment,” she said Monday.
School officials disputed that contention, saying that 10 years of planning have gone into the proposed development. Scheduled for construction are new student dormitories and faculty housing and facilities for Graduate School of Education, the Business School and the School of Public Policy.
Thorough hearings were conducted before the commission vote two months ago, said Talmage Campbell, a Pepperdine spokesman.
All earth from the grading will be used elsewhere on the hilly campus, Campbell said Monday.
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