Neighbors Hit Streets to Oppose Harvard-Westlake School Plans

Opposition to Harvard-Westlake School's proposed parking garage and pedestrian walkway over Coldwater Canyon Avenue continues to grow in recent weeks leading up to Thursday night's meeting with the Studio City Neighborhood Council.

A group of local residents called Save Coldwater Canyon ramped up outreach efforts to present their arguments why the school doesn't need the expansion, and canvassed near the school recently holding signs and handing out flyers.

According to the draft environmental impact report, the school wants to expand its campus with a three-story parking garage with 750 spaces, as well as an athletic field on its roof. The plan also calls to build a 163-foot pedestrian walkway over busy Coldwater Canyon Avenue leading to and from the parking structure, as well as improving traffic operations on the thoroughfare, such as widening the road.

The proposal prompts Harvard-Westlake to ask city planning to approve changes to the zoning ordinance and a conditional use permit.

Sarah Boyd, board member of Save Coldwater Canyon, said the land in question is already designated as desirable open space and the group wants that to be respected.

"The land abuts the Santa Monica Conservancy land, which is also open space," she tells Patch. "So, it's all part of the wildlife corridor. We don't want them to expand west of Coldwater [Canyon]."

The properties near Harvard-Westlake's property line are zoned for single family residences.

At the meeting Thursday night, Save Coldwater Canyon and other opposed residents plan to attend in force, and want to ask the city to place a moratorium on expansion and construction on the land west of Coldwater Canyon Avenue.

"The only people who aren't shocked and horrified are people who are related to the Harvard-Westlake [School] community," Boyd said. "I hope they dig deeper to see through Harvard-Westlake's one-sided description of their project."

A letter of support for the project was sent to Patch earlier this week.

Boyd added that the school is already operating in violation of its conditional use permit with a capped enrollment of 815 students.

"This affects Coldwater Canyon directly," she said. "Anything that creates 25 months of congestion...we've seen it with DWP closures. It'll affect Beverly Glen and essentially Beverly Hills."

Boyd believes the project will create a greater nightmare for commuters between San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills who use the thoroughfare through the mountains.

"When you make a garage for 750 vehicles, there will be an increase of 500 cars to campus," she said. "Why would spend millions of money without needing to increase the amount of people coming to campus?"

Boyd notes the Studio City Residents Association, Santa Monica Conservancy and the Hillside Federation have all opposed the school's project as presented.

Harvard-Westlake Vice President John Amato initially responded to an inquiry from Patch, but has not responded to the enrollment issue, among other questions. He claims the school has a "very large" group of supporters from Studio City.

"As you know, we are a high school, grades 10 to 12, with parking needs that could not have been imagined when we merged with Westlake years ago," he said. "In recent years, we’ve seen a significant increase in full and part-time faculty to support our educational, athletic and performing arts programs. These programs, which are essential, have led to increased parking demand that cannot be met without the new project."

Amato said the project has been designed to alleviate the shortage of parking spots and eliminate overflow parking in the surrounding community, a complaint they have heard for years.

"We’ve also heard about and experienced ourselves the capacity constraints on Coldwater Canyon, and this plan will improve traffic flow by adding new through lanes and dedicated turn lanes," Amato added. "We are embracing change by proposing a project that helps the school add parking capacity while bringing significant benefits to the community and those who drive on Coldwater Canyon."

For more information on Save Coldwater Canyon, visit its website.

Are you attending tonight's meeting? What are your initial thoughts on the project?