The Waldorf School trustees sent a June 22 letter to L.A. City Associate Zoning Administrator Sue Chang, announcing that funding is in place for installing a traffic signal at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Los Liones Drive, close to the school. According to Waldorf School Trustee Jeff Beall, the estimated cost is $605,305 and Waldorf has raised $450,000 through fundraisers and with budget cuts that includes layoffs of three administrative staff members. The additional $150,000 is pledged from the Getty Neighborhood Protection Fund. The Waldorf School, which opened at the former Santa Ynez Inn site in January 2007, is responsible not only for the signal, but also for designs that include street lighting, sidewalks, curbs, striping and signage at the intersection. Additionally, the school must put out the bids, hire a contractor and oversee construction. ‘We’re anxious to get this done,’ Beall told the Palisadian-Post. ‘We obviously would have liked more financial help from the community. We’re good people trying to do a good thing and we hope the next time there’s a story in the paper about the Waldorf, the focus is on the unique and wonderful educational experience we provide, rather than the traffic signal.’ The saga started in April 2005 when Waldorf announced its intention to open an elementary school on the east side of Sunset, just below Los Liones Drive. Residents complained that additional traffic, twice a day, would add problems to the Los Liones intersection, and petitioned for a traffic light before the school was allowed a conditional use permit. ‘Residents in Castellammare have lobbied for a light at Los Liones as well as for the traffic signal realignment at Vons for more than 20 years,’ Shirley Haggstrom, a Castellammare resident and former chair of the Palisades Community Council, said in 2006. Castellammare residents asked for a signal when the Getty Villa underwent expansion, but an Environmental Impact Report showed that traffic generated by the Villa did not require one. The Waldorf School, which later used the same traffic engineers as the Getty, also received a report stating that the school would not add sufficient traffic to warrant a signal.’ According to Beall, ‘Eddie Guerrero and Mo Blofroshan [senior engineer] of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation do not dispute this assessment and, in fact, stated on April 15 [2010] to representatives of both the School and Councilman Rosendahl’s office that the school’s traffic flow did not warrant the installation of a signal from their perspective.’ In August 2009, the Post reported that ‘The city confirmed that the traffic at the intersection is not sufficient to necessitate a light, but conceded that it could be a dangerous situation for those trying to exit left from Los Liones onto Sunset.’   Setting aside the traffic studies, City officials listened to residents’ complaints and, as part of Waldorf’s conditional use permit, required that the school install a light. The cost in 2007 was estimated at $350,000 and a Post story reported, ‘Rosendahl has pledged to spend at least $50,000 and will cover the difference between the estimated and final costs of the signal.’ In April this year, Associate Zoning Administrator Chang threatened the Waldorf representatives that unless she saw significant progress on the light installation, they would not have school next year, and then gave them a month to report on the final cost and a time estimate for completion. Beall, who spoke to the Post on June 24, said the funds were raised (without the City’s earlier promised help) and that the reason for the latest delay is that the school had not received final approval from the City, which was requested May 2. ‘It’s been challenging to get a good bid because we have had to wait for final approval,’ Beall said. The Post contacted Blorfroshan on June 28. ‘I do not have any solid information for you for Los Liones and Sunset at this time. I’ll let you know when I find out,’ he said, noting that ‘Effective July 1, I’ll lose 80 percent of my staff. I’ll have a senior clerk typist and an associate transportation engineer as my only staff.’There will be major reductions in providing DOT services to the public.’ Norm Kulla, northern district director for Councilman Rosendahl, told the Post in a June 29 e-mail, ‘Now that Waldorf has confirmed funding to install the signal, the City is expediting the necessary report.’ He added that Rosendahl expects LADOT to issue a report containing findings that satisfy state mandated requirements within the next two weeks. About $124,000 (or 30 percent) of the project budget is strictly for city permits, according to Beall, and Kulla was asked if the City would waive its fees. ‘No,’ was his response. Getty officials confirmed on June 28 their pledge towards the light installation. ‘It is worthy of note to remember that Councilman Rosendahl and the City’s Director of Planning have sole discretion over the expenditure of the Getty Neighborhood Protection Fund,’ Beall said.”If the $2 million fund is unspent by January 2011, then the funds will revert to the Getty and be lost to the community to use for its own benefit.’ To date, less than $25,000 from the entire $2 million has been spent. It is imperative that these Getty pledged funds be released at once.’
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