A little respect
County threatens to shutter Altadena school that irritated neighbors by opening without required permit
By Patricia Cunliffe 11/26/2008
In early September, residents of a quiet Altadena neighborhood were surprised and irritated to find that the 250-student Sahag Mesrob Armenian Christian School had opened on Palm Drive, in the former home of the Bienvenidos Children’s Center.
Though school officials notified the Altadena Town Council and other public agencies about their intentions to move into the property — even hosting a springtime barbecue to explain their plans to the 70 people who attended — most residents interviewed for this report said they were unaware that the school was going to open.
That’s because the school does not have a required conditional use permit (CUP) to operate, a process that would have included notification of residents by mail, a posting on the property explaining the request, preparation of environmental impact reports and public hearings — none of which have happened.
Now, “The school has been issued a final notice of violation,” said Tony Bell, communications deputy for LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich.
And, “because they began operating while their application was still in process, we were forced to issue a notice of violation and stop the application process,” said Oscar Gomez, supervising regional planner with the LA County Department of Regional Planning, “which now puts them in a Catch-22 position.”
Bruce Durbin of the regional planning department said it normally takes up to six months before a CUP is first reviewed. After that, CUP applications could take anywhere from nine months to four years before they are approved. County Regional Planning Assistant Anita Gutierrez said she was assigned to review the school’s CUP application in late July.
“We cannot deny that we are in violation,” said Shahe Garabedian, principal of Sahag Mesrob School. “It was the most difficult decision we have ever had to make: to either close the school down — which would mean sending 250 students home and laying off 35 staff members — or taking the chance and getting into the campus without the completed permit. So we took the risk and opened, knowing we didn’t have the permit, and we were wrong.”
Two residents — Rachel Figura and Coleen Skerritt — are apparently so upset that they started a petition to have the school closed.
Both women declined to be interviewed for this report, but said in a prepared statement that the school “has dramatically changed the quality of our lives and that of our neighbors since they illegally moved into our neighborhood just after Labor Day. This arrogant and careless decision on the part of Sahag-Mesrob school officials has made victims of us all. The public nuisance created by their constant noise and excessive traffic has directly affected our safety, air quality and the peace and tranquility of our community.”
On various occasions Altadena Sheriff’s deputies have been on hand to observe the early morning activity at the school in response to complaints about noise and traffic. However, “so far there has been no negative feedback from the officers. If there had been parking or other violations going on, then we would have taken the appropriate action and cited those individuals,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Yolanda Palomo.
Just as the property in question has been many things over the years — the neighborhood Y, Head Start, Bienvenidos Children’s Center — Sahag Mesrob is not new to Altadena, having operated there since 1980 at 2501 Maiden Lane, a site now being used for sixth-grade through high school classes.
School administrators had been searching for a suitable second location for 10 years — leasing space at the Church of the Nazarene on Sierra Madre Boulevard for the past four — and were thrilled last December to learn that the property on Palm had become available.
As there were four other entities also bidding on the property — a center for autistic children, two schools and a real estate developer — Sahag Mesrob did not close escrow until April, when they invited neighbors to a barbeque to present their plans for the property and get feedback.
“We’ve taken no position on the school itself, but did recommend the law be enforced in regard to the violation,” Town Council member Gino Sund said, expressing a sentiment shared by fellow Council member Okorie Ezieme.
“Everyone needs to comply within the governmental guidelines of the law,” Ezieme said.
While apologetic, Garabedian said closing the school now would be disastrous. They can’t go back to the Church of the Nazarene, where their rental was extended to a fourth year only because the school still had not found a suitable site for its second location, stated Church of the Nazarene Executive Pastor Scott Anderson.
“We would like to plead that they grant us an adequate time to operate so that we don’t disrupt the kids and their families,” said Garabedian. “It would be very tough at this point to find another school. We hope that they will allow us until the summer vacation, and then we can either get out or allow the CUP process to proceed. But we are going to need some time — that is something that we really are asking for.”
If the school ends up staying open, there are neighbors’ complaints to address, such as the number of students, grade levels, noise and traffic; all of which Garabedian said he has every intention of resolving with the community.
“We have been a good neighbor in Altadena and we want to continue to work with our neighbors and become part of the community,” said Garabedian.
Some area residents voiced concerns about negative impacts on home values, but the primary irritant was the perceived disrespect of not being told about the plans for a school coming into their community.
Jalal Sudan, a 25-year resident and former president of the NAACP Altadena Branch, said that “if any activity comes into the community that is going to impact the community in any adverse way, we, the residents, should have something to say about it.”
“This has nothing to do with the noise of children’s laughter,” said Steve Syms, who has lived in the neighborhood with his wife, Sylvia, for 27 years. “They neglected to let the neighbors know that they were opening a school. That is not right.”
Others empathized with the school’s plight. “I see that they are families, just like us, and this facility should be used for children. I will not be a part of asking them to leave,” said 11-year-resident Sandy Holden, a music consultant for the Pasadena Unified School District.
“However,” Holden said, “if they are not legal, and they need permits, then that is something that I do support because we all have to follow the rules.”
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Comments
The county will slap them on the hand for not following the rules, neighbors will be allowed to express concerns at a hearing, the county will grant the CUP, and the school will remain. That's how it works. We know how it should work but what should happen is not what will happen.
Your recent article on the illegal operation of the Sahag-Mesrob school on Palm street in
Altadena was balanced and well written. It left open the possibility that
the school's legal problems were purely the result of poor judgement and bad timing,
there being no arrogant intent on their part. No mention was made that they faced a
final violations appeal hearing on December 2 to cease operation. In fact their appeal
was denied on that date, they have had concomitant fines levied on them, and they continue
routine operations illegally with no apparent intent to stop. They have been pointedly unresponsive to community queries
for explanation. At no time, either through the official permitting process which they have
subverted, or through direct neighborhood dialogue, have they made any attempt to responsibly address their
surrounding community. Now it may be reasonably concluded that arrogant disregard for
both our larger society (LA county and its governance) as well as local neighborhood sensitivity has
been in play all along.
I can't believe this group thinks they should not have to follow the rules. Do they "own" Altadena? I wonder if any of the other potential buyers would have the bold arrogance to do this. This is ridiculous, and they should be relocate since they did not follow the appropriate process for CUP.
To pretend they are the victims when they took the chance instead of leasing the proper spaces elsewhere that they needed somewhere else is extraordinarily inconsiderate.
This also demonstrates really poor citizenship to all their students, I would expect the school to be a better role model on how to work within the system. They clearly knew that they were not.