New traffic analysis OK’d for North School
A rendering of the proposed reconstructed North School campus. The proposed start of construction will be pushed back by a new analysis of traffic impacts. Image courtesy HBCSD
The board of the Hermosa Beach City School District has approved a new traffic analysis associated with the rebuilding of North School. The City of Hermosa Beach had expressed concerns that previous assessments did not adequately address potential gridlock resulting from reopening the school.
At a special meeting Monday night, the board unanimously voted to fund additional traffic and transportation analysis for the Environmental Impact Report prepared in advance of the North project. Traffic counts are already underway, and the new analysis will likely be released in mid-May, and available for a 45-day public comment period.
The new work is expected cost about $60,000 and will delay potential approval of the EIR, a prerequisite to construction, by about five months, said Terry Tao, a lawyer working for the district. The added expense will be paid by funds from Measure S, a school facilities bond approved by voters in 2016 to address overcrowding in the district and to finance the overhaul at North.
The decision follows a letter issued by the City in January on the draft EIR. The letter said that the school district’s traffic analysis did not adequately take into account the highly concentrated impacts associated with drop-off and pick-ups from school.
On Monday, Tao acknowledged that schools create traffic impacts that are different from the majority of projects, in which the flow of added cars is more spread out. But he said that, in preparing the original DEIR, the district had relied on methodology specified in the city’s General Plan.
The district consulted with the city during the process of crafting the DEIR, but said that they did not hear the concerns raised in the letter until it was released. At a joint meeting of the school board and the City Council in March, city employees acknowledged working with the district leading up to the release of the EIR, but did not say when the concerns were first raised.
Although the vote to approve the new study was unanimous, questions from the board revealed some bitterness over the added costs and delay.
“I’m not saying it’s wrong. But had it been brought up earlier, it would have been addressed as part of the EIR process, so we would not have had to spend the extra $60,000,” Tao said.
“Or wait the extra five months,” said Board Member Monique Ehsan.