Neighbors Sue Over Plans for Girls School

Efforts by Los Angeles officials to end a feud over a ritzy private girls school in Brentwood have fizzled, leaving the struggle in the hands of a judge.

Opponents of a plan to convert the Eastern Star Home into a campus for the Archer School have sued the city in hopes of keeping 235 girls from moving into the historic Sunset Boulevard mansion in September.

The city failed to fully investigate traffic and environmental problems before the City Council voted 13-0 on Dec. 19 to approve conversion of the mansion into a permanent home for the school, leaders of a group called Concerned Brentwood Homeowners and Residents charged Tuesday.

City officials and operators of the 4-year-old school denied that assertion. They said the new campus will open on schedule for the 1999-2000 school year.

The fight over plans to relocate the Archer School from its current site in Pacific Palisades to Brentwood has raged for two years. The dispute has pitted neighbor against neighbor in the wealthy community.

Backed by several Hollywood figures, school operators purchased the former women’s retirement home for $15 million. The 68-year-old Spanish Revival mansion includes a vacant lot with room for an athletic field and gymnasium.

Last month’s city approval came after City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski refereed a series of face-to-face meetings involving Archer representatives, neighbors and leaders of the Brentwood Homeowners Assn.

The negotiations led to pledges by the school to strictly limit automobile traffic in and out of the new campus. School leaders also agreed to restrict sports practice sessions to 20 a year and to limit the number of special events such as graduation ceremonies to 38 annually.

But the Superior Court lawsuit filed Friday contends that a city-approved environmental impact report failed to properly assess potential parking and traffic problems at the school. Homeowners complain that 1988 traffic projections were used, severely underestimating the number of visitors to the nearby Getty Museum.

“Siting that school in the middle of a block on Sunset Boulevard, just a few hundred feet from one of the busiest intersections in the city--Sunset and Barrington Avenue--is a big mistake,” said Jon Byk, a member of the Concerned Brentwood Homeowners.

Archer School head Arlene Hogan chided the Concerned Brentwood Homeowners group for refusing to take part in Miscikowski’s negotiations.

“They turned up their noses,” Hogan said. “They chose not to participate.”

Hogan said the school will proceed with asbestos removal, installation of a new electrical system and new fencing while waiting for the court showdown. The school is also paying to have new turn lanes painted at five nearby intersections and to have traffic signals along Sunset re-timed to accommodate school traffic, she said.

“The girls know there’s a lawsuit. But they’re very excited about moving in. We’ve already had a planning session where every girl had a blueprint and was led through the process by an architect,” Hogan said.

Miscikowski defended the city’s review of the project as “a very vigorous process--from everyone’s perspective the granting of the permits was the proper and appropriate thing to do.”

Aide Linda Bernhardt said each of the complaints raised in the homeowners’ lawsuit were dealt with during public hearings held by the city last year.

The plaintiffs “were not looking for a compromise at all,” Bernhardt said Tuesday. “We expected they were always going to file a lawsuit.”

Fred Gaines, a lawyer for the opponents, said there still may be room for negotiation. “My clients don’t rule out the possibility of compromise” through an improved traffic pattern and a better buffer for neighboring homes, he said.