Debate Over School Facility Rental Continues
By Sameea Kamal
Published: Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
The approval of a temporary use permit that would allow a private Sierra Madre high school to continue renting out its facilities led to the second city council discussion with the nearby residents of the neighborhood and the school.
Residents who live near Alverno High School, a private all-girls Catholic school, oppose the use permit for the renovations outlined in the school’s master plan that would continue to allow the school to rent out its facility to private parties and events.
The renovations for the school would address the lack of an assembly place on the school’s campus and soccer or softball fields, which the school currently has to rent out and bus students to and from, said Ann Gillick, Head of School at Alverno High School.
Currently, the soccer and softball teams rent fields in La Canada.
Neighbors in the community have expressed concerns of a big football field with big lights and games on weekends, or renting the new buildings out that would cause noise and traffic problems.
“We have no intention of doing either of those two things,” said Gillick.
The Villa Del Sol d’Oro, the facility rented out for private events, has been used for at least twenty years for wedding receptions, birthday parties, and city and community events. The income the school makes goes toward financial aid for students and the upkeep of the facility, which is a historical monument in the city that the school is responsible for.
According to Gillick, previous offers from AYSO to pay for an entire soccer field was rejected, as well as an offer from the Pasadena Showcase that would lessen the burden of upkeep for the historical building.
“That would’ve been great ..but I had to say no, I know that the neighbors would be inconvenienced,” she said.
If the school did just wedding receptions alone the income would be around $100,000 which would pay for the tuition of ten students, Gillick said.
“We definitely need the income that we can earn from having a rental event every once in a while to maintain that,” she said.
The school and neighbors have previously taken part in negotiations with an outside facilitator that was recommended by the city, but no resolution was passed.
“What the city has asked us to do is hire a lawyer to do this whole exercise over again with the neighborhood now having the legal representation,” Gillick said. “It’s costing money to do the same thing that we’ve already done, but we’ve agreed to do that.”
Gillick also said that the negotiations process has been slow due to the need to restart every time a new city planner or manager came in.
At the meeting, school officials showed their presentation of the plan again, and many residents from both sides of the issue came out to voice their opinion.
“We’re trying to make sure everyone has a fair chance to bring forth their comments and objections or their support for the school,” said Councilmember Don Watts.
According to Watts, the issue will be brought back to the council in a month, by which time they hope both sides can settle on an agreement.
“It’s kind of one of these situations where the great hope is the negotiations between the people in the neighborhood and Alverno come to some sort of agreement,” Watts said. “If they can do that I’ll be glad to support it, but if they can’t they may not like what either side gets in terms of approval.”
By Sameea Kamal
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