Someone wants to put up a building in the parking lot of Grand View Blvd. Elementary school. Grand View is my home school, and it’s right in the heart of Mar Vista, so this issue affects me personally.
Imagine an apartment building right here.
The scope of the project is still vague, but it’s been described variously as 3 small houses or a 50-unit apartment building. Whatever it is they want to build, I am STRONGLY opposed.
It’s not clear how the idea first was launched, but it’s now being driven by LAUSD, who sees a giant (imaginary) revenue stream from this project, whereas we parents see nothing but a big mess and serious safety situation for our kids for years to come.
The ridiculous aspects of the projects are numerous, so I’ll just list a few.
Putting aside the fact that parents will have no place to park once its built, the space in question is “land-locked”, meaning there’s no access to it except through our school’s parking lot.
And, kind of a basic point, parents will then have no place to park. Remember, this is a school district that bemoans the fact that they can’t get parents more involved in the schools. But hey, why would easy access to the campus itself help encourage parents to get involved? Not necessary. Make ‘em walk a few blocks if they want to attend a PTA meeting.
Then, let’s say it gets built — at that point, how will tenants be vetted? Hi, I see you’d like to live here on the school’s property — well, you’ll have to be fingerprinted and we’ll need to run a background check on you — oh, and on everyone who might ever live with you — and who will ever come to visit you. Oh, and if by any chance you work at night? Well, the school bell starts ringing at 7:45am, so no sleeping in! Oh and you can’t smoke on campus or play loud music during the day. Enjoy!
Or let’s imagine it under construction. Are they going to work only nights and weekends building the thing? Because if they work during the day, it will totally disrupt the classes in session. Oh, and all the trucks and equipment in proximity to 5-year-olds, yeah, that’s an exciting idea.
As I said, I am taking this issue very personally.
The Planning and Land Use Committee of the Mar Vista Community Council will be meeting this Tuesday evening, 10/20, at 6pm at the Mar Vista Library. This is the first chance for the public to have a say about this project, and I urge you to attend. This time it’s on Grand View’s campus; next time it could be your kids’ school.