The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Archer School for Girls planned renovations and upgrades could still be altered before the final version of the document is accepted by the Los Angeles City Council, but one local group in Brentwood has raised some concerns about the project.
Officially released in early April, the DEIR for the “Archer Forward Campus Preservation and Improvement Plan” analyzed the project’s possible environmental effects of adding more than 75,000 square feet of additional floor area to the 7.31-acre Brentwood campus located at Sunset Boulevard and Barrington Avenue.
The Archer School “Preservation and Improvement” project proposes to officially add 75,930 square feet of additional floor area to the campus, including a renovated North Wing section of the Main Building as well as a new multipurpose facility, performing arts center, visual arts center, and aquatics center.
Specifically, plans proposed to expand the North Wing from 30,071 square feet currently to 39,071 square feet when construction is completed. Also, the proposed multipurpose facility is 41,400 square feet. The performing arts center proposes to be 22,600 square feet, while plans call for a 7,400-square-foot visual arts center and a 2,300-square-foot aquatics center.
“The existing outdoor athletic fields would be remodeled and would include regulation-size soccer and softball fields. This includes the installation of six light standards up to seventy feet in height to provide for evening use of the fields,” the DEIR explained. “Parking would be provided in a new underground parking structure, located below the athletic fields, to accommodate approximately 212 cars.”
Two properties adjacent to the campus and owned by Archer would be incorporated into the proposed campus renovation.
The DEIR found the proposed Archer School project, if allowed to move forward in its current iteration, would have “significant and unavoidable impacts” in a few key areas such as air quality, construction noise, and traffic.
Specifically, the proposed project would have “significant and unavoidable impacts” on regional emissions during construction. Just the same, expect road intersections near the school to be significantly and unavoidably impacted by construction.
However, a representative from Archer School who spoke to WestsideToday.com after Brentwood News went to print said the school is making progress in working with the community on questions and concerns they might have.
“Since releasing the initial plans for Archer Forward more than two years ago, Archer has set a precedent for early and comprehensive outreach and dialogue with the greater Brentwood community,” an official statement from Archer School stated.
The school’s representatives also stated they have formal met with the Brentwood Community Council, local civic leaders, and residents in addition to more than 60 outreach meetings.
“Throughout these meetings, we’ve received feedback and suggestions, many of which have been incorporated into one of the project alternatives in the DEIR. We are continuing to have productive discussions with neighbors and community stakeholders and have made significant progress on many issues that were raised in the comments to the DEIR,” the official statement from Archer School said. “We are committed to continuing our discussions throughout the city review and approval process and are very open to incorporating further modifications to our project.”
As for the DEIR itself, the report stated the impact on vehicular access and circulation would be less than significant if certain mitigation measures are followed.
The DEIR stated impacts on environmental issues such as aesthetics, greenhouse emissions, cultural resources, land use, neighborhood intrusion, public services, water quality, and utilities would not be significantly impacted by the proposed project.
However, in a letter written Feb. 18 on behalf of the Brentwood Community Council (BCC) to the City’s Dept. of City Planning questions several elements of the DEIR.
For example, the letter, which is authored by Sandra Genis of “Planning Resources” in Costa Mesa, Calif., state’s the project description on the DEIR is vague or incomplete.
“The DEIR includes no dimensioned site plans, no circulation plan, nor other information regarding key aspects of the physical improvements contemplated. Renderings and plans for the project are at such a small scale as to be useless, and on-line documents are at inadequate resolution to enable one to increase the scale to make the renderings useful, and elevations are not found until” later in the document, Genis, who is also a member of the Costa Mesa City Council, stated in the Feb. 18 letter.
In her letter, Genis also lists 30 questions to be answered in addressing specific concerns, such as: where will construction be staged after Phase 1; what is the maximum seating for the multipurpose facility and performing arts center; how many trees will be removed and of what size; why is the use of solar “being put off to the future;” will off-site parking be continuously available for parking; how many days of filming would be allowed; what activities would be excluded from portions of campus during an imposed curfew; and, how many days would construction hours be extended, among other questions.
Other questions were raised about aesthetics, impacts on air quality due to vehicle emissions from the parking garage, whether it is evident to anyone reviewing the DEIR that neighborhood conservation would be maintained, and how adverse impacts to “numerous intersections” near and around Archer School would be mitigated.
“As currently presented, the DEIR is inadequate to fulfill the purposes of [the California Environmental Quality Act],” Genis, who identifies herself as a planning consultant, stated in her position letter. “The document must be revised and re-circulated … in order that the public and decision makers may be fully informed of the impacts of the proposed project.”
Both Genis’ letter and a link to the complete DEIR will be available in the online version of this article.
Brentwood News and WestsideToday.com will continue to track the progress of the DEIR through City Hall, the BCC, and other community groups.
