By Rob Jacobs
Special to Brentwood News
25,000 square feet less than originally proposed plus a handful of other reductions. Courtesy image.
I read with interest Jeff Hall’s Brentwood Beat Column, “Tight Traffic Standards for All.”
I’ve lived in Brentwood all my adult life and attended many of the public hearings about the Archer development. When a neighbor chained himself to the front gates of the Eastern Star home in 1999, I thought they planned to build a Nuclear Power Plan on the property. But since Archer made the Eastern Star their home, nothing much has changed.
It’s human nature to scapegoat. A problem arises and we look for someone to blame.
The Archer School has nothing to do with our traffic problems. The traffic on Sunset Blvd. is going to and from the businesses in Santa Monica and points west and south. One doesn’t need an engineering survey to see this, just stand out there any evening and look at all those cars pouring into our neighborhood. None are coming out of Archer. The girls there get on eight buses at 3 pm and are gone, long before the peak traffic. (The reverse is true during the morning commute). If we are to blame Archer for traffic on Sunset, then, by that same logic Archer is responsible for the traffic jams on San Vicente, Wilshire, Ohio, Santa Monica Olympic, Pico boulevards, and the 10 freeway. All the eastbound roadways are backed up and none of those cars are coming to or from Archer.
Standing at Barrington and Sunset at peak traffic I often see lines of cars queuing up for the Brentwood School and further west the St. Martin’s school, with one student per car often backing up onto Sunset where they block traffic. But those schools are not our scapegoat, Archer is.
I have neighbors who ignorantly proclaim, “Archer girls have taken over the Barrington Village, we can’t shop there any more.” Another neighbor says, “Archer School must be stopped before they try and add on a high school.” (Archer has always been a high school). There is now a website named “ArcherDisaster” and a chat forum in Mandeville Canyon called Archer “the Monster that keeps coming back.” Such discourse is spawned in ignorance, and I find it repulsive. The people speaking these words are an embarrassment to the Brentwood Community. The students, teachers, and faculty at Archer are fine and valued members of our community and should be treated as such. Many of the teachers and instructors actually walk to work, a novel concept that we should all consider.
As for the construction: had Archer not acquired the Eastern Star, developers would have and covered the property with Monster Mansions causing more construction than Archer’s plan which leaves 3/4ths of the property undeveloped.
I can personally attest to the vigor with which Archer adheres to their traffic plan. Let’s get the other schools to do the same. That would alleviate traffic.
Rob Jacobs is a 20-year resident of Brentwood.
