For L.A. Unified, Finding Clear Site Takes Vision

Here’s an open invitation to the Los Angeles Unified School District to think creatively.

The district--facing both a time and space crunch in its search for land for a new high school to serve students in the southeast Valley--is considering causing a major economic disruption by forcing the corporate headquarters for the Robinsons-May chain and its 1,400 administrative workers to move.

In addition, the adjoining Robinsons-May department store would be closed, forcing an additional 300 workers to move.

But what if the district could take land less than a mile away that has no operating businesses or homes or toxic legacy? And what if that site could be acquired for considerably less than the $70 million to $100 million that it will probably cost to buy the site and relocate Robinsons-May?

Would it be ignored because it’s just too obvious, or because it may not match the district’s traditional design for school sites? Let’s hope not.

The land in question, a largely vacant 12.7-acre parcel near Vanowen Street and Whitsett Avenue, is owned by the city’s Department of Water and Power. It contains wells and a control house that cannot be moved, but could peacefully coexist with a school, one DWP official said.

Of the 12.7 acres, the DWP leases nearly seven acres to the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, mostly for soccer fields. Years ago, the DWP sold an additional 6.5 acres of adjacent land to the city for parks.

Last week, Bill Allen, president of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, recommended to Board of Education member Caprice Young that the district seriously consider the Vanowen/Whitsett site as an alternative to dislocating Robinsons-May, an arm of St. Louis-based May Department Stores.

The site earlier had been recommended by area residents and business owners but did not make a final list of three or four sites school staff considered most viable, for a number of reasons.

Ron Restivo, principal realty agent with the LAUSD, said the “big problem” with the site is that it would require use of the adjacent parkland, which would have to be replaced elsewhere in the area.

“We’d have to take park acreage,” said Restivo. “The DWP part of it is only about 12 acres which is way small for a high school.”

Here’s where the creative thinking comes in.

Allen thinks the site is too small only if the district insists on building a site for 3,000-plus students.

“That’s if you go with the old model of building these enormous schools,” said Allen, who advocates structures to house about 1,200 students. He envisions the 12.7 acres as being “more than enough for all their structures,” without plowing up any of the existing parkland.

And with a joint operating agreement that would allow both the LAUSD and the parks department to use the land, both sides could win, so Allen’s argument goes.

Add to the list of potential winners the DWP, which is interested in selling the land.

“In a word, yes, we’re interested,” said Ron Merlo, director of corporate asset management for the DWP. “We have a direction to consider all offers and we consider this a win-win.”

And save space on the list of wannabe winners for Robinsons-May, which has vehemently opposed any plans for a forced march, and has hired its own real estate consultant, Charles Dunn Co., to develop a list of alternative sites.

That list, and an updated estimate of the cost to move the retailer’s operation, should be out early next week, according to Teri Gray, assistant to Bob Soroka, chairman of the Robinsons-May division.

Young, the school board member who proposed the Robinsons-May site, was unavailable for comment Monday. But her spokesman, Jason Greenwald, said he understood “that [the DWP property] is a site that we’re certainly taking seriously and taking a good look at.”

In the meantime, the staff of Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) is investigating ways to ease an impending time crunch that’s forcing the district to act so hastily.

On July 1, the State Allocation Board is allowed to begin doling out dollars from Proposition 1A, the largest school bond measure in California history. The funds are given out on a first-completed-application-first-served basis.

That’s put some districts, including the LAUSD in a race against time as they scramble to identify potential school sites, purchase the land and draw architectural plans before June 30.

It’s not a deadline, per se, according to Hertzberg’s office. There is nothing in current legislation that dictates that completed applications be filed by that time, according to spokesman Paul Hefner.

But, if the district waits too long to get in line, all the goodies may be gone.

“It’s my understanding from past experience that the money is allocated very quickly,” said Greenwald. “If you’re not in line on the first day, your odds of getting funding are significantly hampered.”

Hefner said the assemblyman’s staff is looking at a few proposals that could buy time for LAUSD and other similarly strapped districts.

One is to urge the state board to delay its action. Another is to set aside funds for the latecomers.

“Which of those, or some other alternative, we’ll pursue, we haven’t decided,” said Hefner, adding that a decision will probably be made late this year or early next.

One thing to recommend the DWP site is that it appears to be uncontaminated.

“It’s been fairly clean since the ‘20s,” said Merlo. “We don’t have any need to be concerned about any contamination.

“We never did develop on it and it was bought at a time when hardly anybody lived out in the Valley. We’re comfortable there’s nothing lurking out there.”

There are no doubt some negatives to taking over the site. Soccer disruption for one.

But given the fledgling efforts to jump-start the economy in the southeast Valley, and the potential negative impact of a Robinsons-May move, shouldn’t the LAUSD try to think creatively this time?

Maybe just this once.