Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Marymount College Expansion Draft EIR

Well folks, if you feel you haven't received enough information from the Ponte Vista Draft Environmental Impact Report, issued almost one year ago, have I got something new for you!

Marymount College, in Rancho Palos Verdes wants to have expansion work done and a brand new Draft Environmental Impact Report has just been released to the public for reading and commenting on.

http://palosverdes.com/rpv/planning/marymount/index.cfm is the page to go to if you wish to view the DEIR, or save it, for that matter, on your very own puter.

If you want to take a look at the DEIR, scroll down about 2/3 of the way down the page and look for the link in blue: "click here".

Now you may ask yourself, why would I care about a DEIR for an expansion project at a two-year college located up on Palos Verdes Drive East, in Rancho Palos Verdes?

I hope you know that the college has two off-campus housing sites. The one that is an apartment building near the intersection of 24Th Street and Cabrillo Avenue in San Pedro, is slated to be sold if the expansion plans are approved, without using one of the alternatives.

The other off-campus housing is located on Palos Verdes Drive North between Western Avenue and Five Points. Does this housing get your attention?

The expansion would affect the "Palos Verdes North" housing site and that means that traffic to and from that site would also be affected.

There are regularly scheduled shuttle bus runs between the main campus and the housing sites, but whether the shuttle buses to and from Palos Verdes North and the campus avoid Western Avenue at this time, is a question I can't answer.

The public comment period for the new DEIR has begun and will end in about 75 days, unless it gets extended. individuals, groups, and all interested parties should review the DEIR and make comments on it.

On December 10, 2007, the Rancho Palos Verdes Traffic Safety Commission will hold a public hearing at Hesse Park in Rancho Palos Verdes to take and record comments from the public, concerning traffic and safety issues with the expansion and the DEIR. This hearing is in addition to whatever comments the public wishes to make, concerning the DEIR.

I think it is important for those people and groups who are interested in the issues surrounding the expansion, whether they live in Rancho Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Lomita, Harbor City, or anywhere else, to read the DEIR and make comments on any or all the related issues.

The supporters, agents, and associates dealing with Ponte Vista at San Pedro will likely make comments about the expansion, which they have every right to do.

Traffic issues along Western Avenue are becoming more and more complicated due to issues that didn't seem as important a little while ago:
Seaport becoming an apartment complex, instead of a condominium project.
The knowledge and fear of what traffic might be like when Marshall's finally opens.
Some smaller retail spaces closing or opening, in the general area.
What traffic issues will come into play when Mule's moves and becomes a bigger business.
The onward progression of work building Target and Highland Park, both on Gaffey.
How, where, and when the new Mary Star campus will open and the traffic issues that will finally come into play.
SRHS 14 still is shown as having its "preferred site" being Ponte Vista and there seems to be a growing opposition to building it in Lomita, instead.

We don't live in a two-issue bubble. It's not Ponte Vista and Western. It is all of us, all of the current things, the future, and how it might or might not all fit together.

So I feel it is important for everyone to learn as much as they can about all the issues, even an expansion of a two-year college, high on a hill in Rancho Palos Verdes.

We have a new opportunity to not get bitten in the butt like so many of us feel we got when Seaport Homes (The Monster) grew from the debris of the old sports club.

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