This textfile contains the information Harlan Ellison has sent to Ellison Webderland about the fight of his community against the Buckley School's proposed development on watershed land, owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, in his neighborhood of Sherman Oaks, California. The Buckley School was seeking to significantly expand their school grounds and enrollment in violation of the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) under which they were granted permission to use the land in the first place: ==================================================================== The Sherman Oaks Homeowner's Association met June 25, 1998 with Los Angeles councilman Mike Feuer to discuss the Buckley School's Plans: CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS LEADING UP TO THIS MEETING April '96--Buckley convened an informal meeting with neighbors bordering school to explain their need to expand for their survival. A second meeting was held with an expanded group of neighbors at the school and then representatives appeared at meeting of SOHA to present their master plan. The plan presented at all these meetings was for an increase in enrollment to 900 from the existing cap of 750 students, minimal construction and a mitigated traffic plan which was incomplete. Because of this proposal, a committe was formed by SOHA to review Buckley's past compliance with the existing CUP and the effects the new proposal would have on the community. May 96--The committee was informed that the school could not amend existing CUP but would have to apply for a new CUP. Meetings planned with representatives of school and architect were cancelled by the school. May '96-Oct '97--Meetings of the committee continued and contacts with the council office and planning commission were maintained. The committee investigated many violations by the school of the existing CUP including excess enrollment, failure to submit accurate census to the planning commission, continuation of severe traffic problems and violation of calendar. Dec '96--A letter was submitted to the planning commission documenting violations of the existing CUP by Buckley. July '97--The planning commission, after an exchange of several letters between the commission and attorneys for the school notified Buckley that they must reduce enrollment to 750 students and complete a traffic audit as required by condition 22 which was adopted in July, 1987. Oct. '97--Committee is invited to meeting of newly formed neighborhood liaison committee from the Buckley School to hear presentation of proposed building expansion and traffic mitigation plan. CUP application submitted to our committee at this time was for an increase to 975 students and 68,700 sq. ft. of new construction. This meeting took place on October 27 and the application was submitted to planning commission five days later. The tarffic mitigation plan had not been completed. Jan. '98--Meeting was held at council office. Committee was represented by eight members because of limitation of space in the office. Focus of the meeting was on the necessity to get Buckley to comply with existing CUP based on past performance by the school. After that meeting a letter was sent asking Buckley to withdraw the new application and work to comply with the existing CUP. Feb '98--As word spread about the massive construction proposed and negative impact on the environment of the canyon an outpouring of opposition arose to all of the expansion. Many new members volunteered to server on the committee. On February 26, the SOHA committee was invited to another meeting with the Buckley liaison committee to hear Sam Ross of Crain and Associates explain his traffic study and mitigation plan. At that meeting, many of the new members of the committee were in attendance and they expressed their concerns not only about traffic but also about the huge amount of construction planned for the canyon. After this meeting, the SOHA committee realized that its previous goals were inadequate and a tougher stand was necessary. May '98--At monthly meeting of SOHA a committee report was presented outlining the opposition to the expansion of Buckley School and petitions were circulated for support of this position. Over 150 members present at the meeting signed the petition. June '98--In a letter of June 19, 1998, a copy of which was sent to the councilman, Jan Seligman and Jim Higgins acknowledge that the school will not undertake to correct the existing traffic problems unless they can implement their master plan. The committee position is that the traffic problems must be eliminated to be in compliance with the existing CUP. Signed by LEE WILLIS and HENRY LIPSON, June 25, 1998 ==================================================================== Letter from Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association to Councilman Mike Feuer on June 7, 1998 re: Buckley School expansion: Dear Councilman Feuer, As a[sic] long-time residents of Camino de la Cumbre/Oak Forest Canyon and the neighborhoods which surround Buckley School we, like many of our neighbors, would hate to see this beautiful canyon overwhelmed by the *68,700 square feet* of new structures which The Buckley School is proposing to construct in the canyon. We are also the members of the homeowners committee that met with you last November, and are unanimously opposed to the school expanion. Our most serious concerns are as follows: 1. Further development of an already intensively developed site will dramatically reduce the green buffer which now exists between the school and the neighborhood to the west. We appreciate that you have protected Deervale-Stone Canyon so that its hiking trails and natural beauty can be preserved. However, we are concerned that the beautiful forest along Camino de le Cambre which borders Buckley, and which is enjoyed by hikers everyday, will be cut down if the proposed new middle school and science building are built. 2. Buckley has indicated that they are planning to increase their student population by approximately 20%, yet their proposed plan shows more than a 100% increase in classroom area. According to their own plan they plan to add approximately 34,000 square feet of classrooms (a new middle school, science building, and a 2nd floor and adjoining building to their elementary school) to their approximately 29,000 square feet of existing classrooms. 3. The proposed expansion will ahve serious topgraphical impact on the canyon with substantial grading taking place immediately adjacent to Fossil Ridge Park. 4. When the Fossil Ridge Park issue first came up for review, over thirteen thousand signatures were gathered to designate the area to Buckley's immediate south as permanent open space. There is clearly strong public sentiment to preserve the canyon area as is. 5. The Federation of Hillside and Canyon Associations and The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy have both expressed concern about the proposed new construction. Responding to the public sentiment, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has listed Oak Forest Canyon on its primary work program for acquisition in order to preserve this area for the public to appreciate and enjoy. 6. Buckley made a specific promise to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the community to dedicate their portion of Oak Forest Canyon to the Conservancy, and to this date they have not. Further, as their plans filed with the Los Angeles City Planning Commission seem to indicate, this land area is being used to justify more new building area. 7. Like many sites in the canyons and hillsides of Los Angeles much of Buckley's site is unbuildable. The flat land north of the football field is already developed, so the new buildings are designed to be built on hillsides or as second floor additions. 8. Buckley is one of very few schools that has a single campus that runs from preschool to the twelfth grade. This means that the single campus hosts activities in the evening and on weekends for the preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. It also means that Buckley needs a large staff to accomodate its students. 9. The Buckley campus sits at the end of a residential cul-de-sac street that has yet to overcome serious, continuing traffic issues related to the campus. The construction of 68,700 square feet, and the subsequent traffic increase that will unavoidably occur with day-to-day access, as well as the on going weekend and evening traffic, is clearly much more than the small residential streets which border the campus can possibly bear. Furthermore, the inconvenience and disruption (noise, trucks, and dust) that is amount of new construction will cause to the immediate area is considerable. 10. By some form of convoluted logic, the school which is now 98,000 square feet is proposing to add 68,700 new square feet, while actually reducing the number of on-site parking spaces. Included in the 68,700 new square feet of buildings is a new 24,000 square foot auditorium with approximately 600 fixed seats. This use alone would require 100 new parking spaces under the zoning code. 11. The Traffic Study which the school has submitted, offers a series of suggestions for alleviating the problems which will be caused by the increase in traffic. It is clear that all the proposed options may facilitate traffic flow to and from Buckley, but will tremendously restrict the normal flow of traffic for residents in the immediate area. The proposed traffic lights on Beverly Glen and Valley Vista could potentially bring more traffic into the neighborhood by making it more convenient for commuters to use Valley Vista as easy access to Beverly Glen. 12. Plans for car-pooling, shuttle buses and on-site circulation improvements which the school has proposed, are items that should be instituted in any case, to meet requirements which are not being met now as part of the existing C.U.P. 13. Another factor in regard to the traffic has to do with the back gate. According to the C.U.P. this is only to be used by service vehicles. It has been open for long periods of time on Saturdays and Sundays and in the evening for passenger vehicles. The additional traffic causes a hazardous situation on Camino de la Cumbre which is a narrow, windy street. 14. Furtehr we would like your office to consider the fact that The Buckley School is now quite large in comparison to other schools in the area, with 790 students, and are proposing an additional 199. Buckley is presently larger than Oakwood, which has 450 students on one campus and 350 on another. It is large than The Country School and much larger than Marlborough which has under 400 students. Buckley is about the same size as Campbell Hall. Brentwood has 695 students on its largest site and 300 plus on its other campus. Harvard Westlake has approximately 725 on its middle school campus and 800 on its upper school campus. These are successful, competitive schools. Oakwood, Campbell Hall, and The Country School, Brentwood and the upper campus of Harvard Westlake are all on major streets, not on a small neighborhood lane. Buckley does not need to expand to 950-1000 students to be successful. 15. Legislators including Governors, Senators, Congressman, Assemblyman, and Councilmen have all energetically lobbies for the preservation of Fossil Ridge and its environment. Our community looks eagerly to your office to maintain what has taken a quarter of a century to establish. We hope your office will seriously address this neighborhood's concern and oppose the planned expansion which can only increase traffic, noise, removal of trees and greenery, and result in the further deterioration of our neighborhood and canyon. It is our strong hope that your office will consider all of the issues we have raised and join with the neighborhood in their efforts to have The Buckley School withdraw its application for expansion and comply with their existing CUP. Thank you very much for your consideration to this matter. We look forward to our meeting with you at 3852 Camino de Solana at 5:00pm on June 25th. Sincerely, For the SOHA Buckley Committee. ==================================================================== Letter from Arnold Newman, naturalist and executive director/founder of the International Society for the Preservation of the Tropical Rainforest, to John Diaz, Chief Acquisitions Officer of The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Mr. Newman may be reach at 818-990-3333, the Conservancy at 310-589-3207: Dear John: The establishment of Fossil Ridge State Park was a keystone landmark in habitat and paleontological resource preservation for the city of Los Angeles and State of California. The citizen benificiaries of that park express both gratitude for the pivotal role the Conservancy played in its acquisition and extend a heartfelt welcome to you to our community as its most prominent landowner. As you are well aware, Buckley School is contiguous to Fossil Ridge Park on its western boundary and ia n obvious facet in its view shed. When Buckley School entered its current site in Oak Forest Canyon several decades ago, from its Woodman Avenue location in the Valley, it worked constructively with our community to contain its building footprint and height of structures and to preserve a green buffer around almost its entire perimeter to insulate itself from both sight and sound from an almost wilderness community. From the onset, the city was understandably responsive to the community's residents in narrowly admitting Buckley its occupancy which, quite unique for a school, is nestled directly in the center of a quiet, wooded, upscale single family residential settings. The city fathers did so in the wisdom of a *Conditional Use Permit*. Expressely because Buckley failed to heed so many of the essential stipulations of its 1965 CUP, a hearing was held on July 9, 1987 which considered the revocation of its permit to operate a school in its present location. As Buckley was found to be unresponsive to the community in mitigating ongoing violations of its CUP in regards to such substantial violations as noise and traffic, it was provisionally allowed to remain on site but under a new and necessarily more restrictive CUP. Since that time, the school has operated with apparent disregard for a number of its CUP restrictions, affecting a dozen neighborhood streets which include traffic, parking, noise, exceeding its maximum student enrollment, failure to file census reports for exceeding permissible hours of operation and special events, much of which were delineated in a correspondence of December 6, 1996 to the City Planning Commission. While flamboyantly failing to mitigate these trangressions, Buckley has plans to expand its campus classroom area from a current approximate 29,000 sq. ft. to 66,000 sq. ft. and total structure area from a current 98,000 sq. ft. to 167,000 sq. ft. In fact, an entirely new middle/junior high school. A Buckley parent reported the school wished to increase classroom pupil count from 50 to 100 on an average course. Like so many other private schools, why is Buckely not considering a dual campus? The plan markedly encroaches on the very greenbelt that serves as insulation, with buildings, some of them multi-storied. The implementation of the plan would completely transform the character of the subdued community, virtually rural in character, into one completely dominated by the specter of the school. It should be stated here that the community has accepted Buckley School, has tried to be good neighbors, and the removal of the school has certainly not been on our agenda. Yet, over the many years the school has persisted in deluding the community regarding its intentions to mitigate its problem with its neighbors. Recently, it came to our attention that Buckley has been quite consistent in that respect with its negotiations with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy as well. As Oak Forest Canyon borders Fossil Ridge Park to the west and contains much level terrain which Fossil Ridge lacks and is appropriate for recreational activities, it has been on the conservancy's acquisition list for a number of years. As a number of development plans that were narrowly defeated, our committee, the Oak Forest Canyon Task Force of the Sherman Oaks Homeowner's Association, approached Buckley School with a proposal. Simply stated, we proposed that Buckley School purchase a key 15 acre parcel in the canyon to both prevent development on it as well as a permanent buffer for the school and Fossil Ridge and hold it sacrosanct in its wilderness state. At this point, the Conservancy entered into the negotiations. As the 15 acre parcel was not contiguous to Buckley School, Buckley proposed that it purchase the parcel and trade it to the Conservancy for a parcel within Fossil Ridge Park that bordered its football field - the agreement prominently stipulated that the parcel would be held by Buckley against development of any kind in perpetuity. This agreement was brought before the Conservancy Board and formally ratified. The purchase of the parcel was subsequently consumated. As you have reported, since that time in 1995, Buckley has remained evasive when repeatedly approached by you as conservation officer in command of the Oak Forest Canyon aquisition. In December, 1997, in a meeting with Walter Baumhoff, Buckley Headmaster, you were informed by Mr. Baumhoff that Buckley wished to trade its 15 acre parcel for an altogether differenct section of Fossil Ridge itself - and he stated Buckley's intentions to build a classroom and bathrooms on it. You reported being literally aghast at the suggestion as well as Baumhoff's denial that the land swap agreement formally mandated against development of any kind and was a matter of documented public record. At the same meeting, you questioned Mr. Baumhoff regarding the school's proposed expansion and asked to see plans and its effect on Fossil Ridge's view shed. While Mr. Baumhoff responded that expansion was just in the talking state and no plans yet existed, you discovered that formal plans and elevations were, in fact, hanging on the wall in Mr. Baumhoff's office, next door to the room in which you met. Given the caliber dublicity with a State agency, the community feels justified in excercising caution in our negotiation with the school in regards to their proposed development. We extend our appreciation to both Conservancy Board member Jerry Danial and yourself for recently attending our committee meeting and we embrace the suggestion that we schedule this matter on the Conservancy agenda at its next public meeting to address the board. Please distribute this correspondence to the board and inform me of the agenda date. I have forwarded copies of this correspondence to others long involved in the preservation of Fossil Ridge and Oak Forest Canyon. Sincerely, Arnold Newman Oak Forest Canyon Task Force Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association ==================================================================== Harlan Ellison's respond to the folks questioning the fight with the school as an attempt to preserve his own private backyard park: HARLAN RESPONDS TO THE PINHEADS: If I were to appear on the right hand of God, and bring to the teeming masses peace, plenty, the cure for cancer, and the return of Courtesy in Our Time, there would no doubt be a few of you imbeciles--and you know which of you I mean, and which of you I do _not_ mean--who would get on the Web and try to cobble up some insidious scam I was working. You are mean, small, ugly souls, and if I had a fly swatter big enough... The Buckley School expansion is a complex and distressing matter to the entire neighborhood in which I live. That the land we're trying to preserve is in my backyard, is incidental. It is why _I_ am involved, personally, as some of _you_ are involved in serious environmental matters in _your_ backyard. But my personality is not the issue, so we can all do very nicely without a bunch of idiot fan and semi-pro types demanding this and demanding that, and seeking information that will do nothing for the problem. That is to say: I was afforded a unique opportunity to use a tv show to bring to the attention of people in Los Angeles a developing situation that might have no interest at all to people in South Central or Tustin or Pacoima. It was only coincidentally aimed at some of you living hundreds or even thousands of miles away. But, as I should have guessed, there will always be a few of you mosquitoes who have nothing better to do with your time than to stick your faces in where you can do no good...but you love to do harm. Or if not active harm, to shout and strut and demand this and that, all as if _your_ opinion mattered. If you cannot be of assistance, back off, go away, and shut the phuque up. No one needs the white noise din of your carping and insinuations. If you want to be of help to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy--which is the state-funded agency behind this attempt to curtail rampant DonaldTrumpism--then _do_ something. _What_ you do is up to you. I cannot tell you what might be of aid, beyond trying to get Councilman Feuer to help protect this beautiful, greenbelt land, but if you aren't an Ageleno...piss off, if all you want to do is Come to the Meeting Late and Demand to Know What Everyone Said for the Lifetime Preceding. Because, frankly, you noisome twerps, you are the ones who are meant when we rail against Those Who Didn't Get the Word. Harlan Ellison 24 June 98 ====================================================================