Loading...
PC RES 2003-051A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES FORWARDING TO THE BOARD OF THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT A FINDING THAT THE PLACEMENT OF FOUR (4) ADDITIONAL PORTABLE CLASSROOM BUILDINGS CONTAINING SEVEN (7) CLASSROOMS AT DODSON MIDDLE SCHOOL, LOCATED AT 28014 MONTEREINA DRIVE, IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOALS AND POLICIES OF THE RANCHO PALOS VERDES GENERAL PLAN WHEREAS, on or before May 2, 2003, the requestor, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), placed or authorized the placement of additional portable classroom buildings at Rudecinda Sepulveda Dodson Middle School, located along Monterema Drive and Avenida Aprenda in the Rolling Hills Riviera community; and, WHEREAS, Section 65402(c) of the California Government Code requires that a local agency such as LAUSD shall not construct or authorize a public building or structure in any city, if such city has adopted a general plan and such general plan is applicable thereto, until the location, purpose and extent of such public building or structure have been submitted to and reported upon by the planning agency having jurisdiction, as to conformity with said adopted general plan; and, WHEREAS, on September 25, 2003, LAUSD submitted an after -the -fact request for a General Plan consistency finding for the additional portable classroom buildings at Dodson Middle School; and, WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act, Public Resources Code Sections 21000 et. seq. ("CEQA"), the State's CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Section 15000 et. seq., the City's Local CEQA Guidelines, and Government Code Section 65962.5(f) (Hazardous Waste and Substances Statement), the City of Rancho Palos Verdes reviewed the request and determined that the proposed request would not have a significant impact on the environment and has, therefore, been determined to be categorically exempt (Class 14, Section 15314), and, WHEREAS, the Planning Commission conducted a hearing on October 28, 2003, within forty (40) days of the date the request was submitted by LAUSD, at which time all interested parties were given an opportunity to be heard and present evidence NOW, THEREFORE, THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES DOES HEREBY FIND, DETERMINE AND RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS Section 1: The Rancho Palos Verdes Planning Commission hereby finds as follows with respect to the location, purpose and extent of the four (4) additional portable classroom buildings at Dodson Middle School: A The location of the additional portable classrooms is inconsistent with the Rancho Palos Verdes General Plan. Three (3) of the buildings encroach upon the 25 -foot setback required by the City's `I' (Institutional) zoning district. In addition, General Plan Institutional Activity Policy No. 1 requires the "[location of] schools on or near major artenals, buffered from residential uses, and [providing] adequate parking and automobile access." Although the campus is already surrounded by residential uses, the placement of these three (3) classroom buildings along Avenida Aprenda does not provide sufficient visual buffering from nearby residences. Also, General Plan Noise Policy No. 1 states that it is the City's policy to "[mitigate] impacts generated by steady-state noise intrusion (e.g., land strip buffers, landscaping, site design)." The location of the three (3) buildings along Avenida Aprenda does not provide adequate buffers to mitigate steady-state noise impacts, such as those generated by air conditioning equipment. B. The purpose of the additional portable classrooms is consistent with the Rancho Palos Verdes General Plan. The additional classrooms are needed to increase the capacity of the campus to meet demand resulting from growth within the attendance area for Dodson Middle School. The placement of additional classrooms on the site is consistent with the existing use of the property as a public middle school, which is, in turn, consistent with the Institutional land use designation of the General Plan C. The extent of the additional portable classrooms is inconsistent with the Rancho Palos Verdes General Plan. The additional portable classroom buildings at Dodson Middle School encompass seven (7) classrooms and an overall increase in school capacity of one hundred eighty-one (181) students. Combined with the additional classroom building added to the site in 1998, the capacity of the Dodson campus has expanded by nine (9) classrooms and two hundred thirty-nine (239) students in the past five (5) years. During this same period, the City has occasionally received complaints from the surrounding Rolling HMIs Riviera community about noise, traffic congestion and trash allegedly originating from the Dodson campus. General Plan Institutional Activity Policy No. 3 calls upon the City to "[continue] to work closely with the School District in coordinating planning and programming." Unfortunately, LAUSD has twice failed to advise the City of its plans to add portable classroom buildings to the Dodson campus prior to their installation. The City is concerned that LAUSD may continue to expand the capacity of the Dodson campus without sufficient regard to the cumulative impacts upon the surrounding neighborhood, nor with any advance notification to the City as mandated by Government Code Section 65402(c). P.C. Resolution No. 2003-51 Page 2 of 3 Section 2: Any interested person aggrieved by this decision or by any portion of this decision may appeal to the City Council Pursuant to Section 17 80 070 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code, -any such appeal must be filed with the City, in writing, and with the appropriate appeal fee, no later than fifteen (15) days following October 28, 2003, the date of the Planning Commission's final action Section 3. For the foregoing reasons and based on the information and findings included in the Staff Report, Minutes and all other records of the proceedings, which are attached hereto and made a part thereof by reference, the Planning Commission hereby forwards to the Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District a finding that the placement of four (4) additional portable classroom buildings containing seven (7) classrooms at Dodson Middle School, located at 28014 Montereina Drive, is inconsistent with the goals and policies of the Rancho Palos Verdes General Plan PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 28th day of October 2003, by the following vote AYES Vice Chairman Mueller, Commissioners Cartwright, Cote and Duran Reed NOES none ABSTENTIONS Chairman Long and Commissioner Tomblin ABSENT Commissioner Lyon jas, Al , of PI nni Ei�fgw''cement; nd Commission T-49 g; cfGAl (_ iv(`►; l L Vvf Chairman Building, and Code �cretary to the Planning M:\Projects\ZON2003-00535 (IAUSD-Dodson Middle School, 28014 Montereina Dr)\20031028_Reso_PC.doc PC Resolution No 2003- 51 Page 3 of 3