Author: Danielle Sherman
Occidental College has spent the last four years developing a specific plan for the campus’ development over the next 20 years, which has proved hard to get approved by the city due to neighborhood opposition to expansion.
Future renovations and additions to campus could include adding a new aquatic center, renovating Swan Hall, adding faculty housing and office space, changing the location of the baseball field, and adding a new fitness center. If the plan is approved, the college will need to raise money for each project separately.
An environmental impact report detailing how the development could affect air quality, traffic, parking, water drainage, natural resources and more has been completed and is available for the community to view and comment on. The surrounding Eagle Rock neighborhood was notified about this report by mail and have until Nov. 24 to add their input.”Once you do an environmental report you need to circulate copies [. . .] then you’re required to give the public a certain amount of time to comment on it,” Director of Communications at Occidental James Tranquada said. Comments are added to the report, along with the college’s response to them.
This is the first step toward getting the city of Los Angeles to approve the plans. According to Tranquada, next there will be hearings for the city-wide planning commission, followed by hearings from the planning and land management of the city council. Eventually the plans go to the full city council for a vote.
The comprehensive plan includes all of the potential building and renovation sites, so instead of having to get each project approved individually, “you’re looking at the campus as a whole,” Tranquada said. If the plan gets approved, it will bring big changes to the way our campus is developed.The plan divides the campus into three subareas, each of which would have its own set of requirements and restrictions concerning height, lot coverage, landscaping, and sustainable building standards. Subarea one borders Campus Road, Stratford Road and Avenue 47, Subarea two contains all of the already-developed central campus, and Subarea three is the largely undeveloped east campus, the location of Fiji Hill.
There are 29 marked building opportunity sites, but no specific projects are planned yet. The plan allows for flexibility in the development of these areas, giving guidelines on what type of development can take place without committing the area to any one project.
The college may face challenges throughout the process of getting this master plan approved. “From what I’m told the neighbors have threatened to make it hard for us,” Assistant Dean of Residence Life and Housing Services Kecia Baker said. “Just like any neighborhood organization they can petition, protest, block [our plans].”
According to Tranquada, neighborhood concerns about the campus revolve around off-campus student housing. The amount of students living off campus with cars creates traffic problems, because there is not enough garage or driveway space and cars are parked on the street. Off-campus parties also cause a problem with neighborhood relations.
“Neighbors are concerned about late night parties and the kinds of poor judgments that students make when it’s three in the morning and they are drunk and disorderly in the front yard,” said Tranquada. “Neighbors’ expectations are that these are your students, they are causing a problem and therefore you have to fix it. The college doesn’t have the ability to dictate to students who are living off-campus.”
Robert Arranga, an elected board member and co-chair of the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council Land Use Planning Committee, a group he said is comprised of “stakeholders in the Eagle Rock area,” explained the committee’s concerns. “Most members are well versed in land issues and some are concerned residents who are very interested in the projects that come into the area,” Arranga said.
Off-campus residents Justin Perez (junior) and Zachary Lundgren (senior) said they have not noticed any increased campus involvement with their living situation because of these issues.
“I’ve had no interaction with the school,” Perez said. “I feel that they are absent from my life when I leave campus.”
For more information about the campus expansion plan, contact Jim Tranquada.
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