Prep school just might work in the Rancho

Rancho residents appear to have successfully vanquished the most recent non-equestrian-paradise development proposal for the neighborhood, but another is waiting in the banks.

After meeting what is becoming standard full-scale opposition to anything new in the Rancho neighborhood late last year, New Urban West scaled down its 120-condomium proposal to 50 single-family homes, only to get a fresh round of criticism and blow-back.

Evidently, the firm decided to cut and run, but now Rancho will have to gear up for another potential foe: a private French-language preparatory school. Say hello to the two rounds of busy traffic, SUVs and all the other daily trimmings that come with a school — albeit a much a more structured campus.

And given the property’s zoning, there are no special permissions the school will need to seek, which means residents won’t have the recourse they used to beat back New Urban West — that is, if the community is opposed to a school at the site. If not, well then it appears a school could at long last break the bubble.