Information to Pass Along Regarding the Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project

Here are some facts you may find interesting that I have recently collected regarding the Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project.

First, here are two aerial illustrations of the Marymount College site.

The first is what the site looks like today. Please click over the image to enlarge it for better viewing.

The second illustration is an overhead view of the conceptual illustration of the Expansion Project as supported by Marymount College officials and supporters.

Click over image to enlarge.

Currently the College has approximately 658 students, with 99% of the student body being full-time students. This fact is quite different than most junior colleges around the country.

The maximum number of students allowed at the campus is currently 793 students.

The College is a private institution and is not part of the Los Angeles Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church.

An original permit was granted for the construction of on-campus student housing in 1978. Since that time the permit was simply extended four more times.

When the original permit for on-campus housing was approved, a condition was imposed that stated that nuns would be the supervisors of the on-campus housing during the time it was an all-female junior college.

The current Preferred Project calls for two buildings for on-campus student housing to be constructed for a total population of 250 students and 5 supervisory persons.

To have the Project built out as proposed, there would need to be a number of variances approved of to municipal code that currently exists.

The number of parking spaces proposed for the Preferred Project would see a fewer number of parking spaces than the Rancho Palos Verdes City Parking Codes demand.

The next meeting of the Rancho Palos Verdes Planning Commission to continue the hearing on the Marymount College Facilities Project is scheduled for March 10, 2009.

If the Planning Commission does not vote to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report or fails to vote on the variances called for in the Project's documentation, they may vote to approve or disapprove the project at their meeting in April.

It is expected, according to the Rancho Palos Verdes Staff person managing the Project that it would take another month to write up all the resolutions and other paperwork necessary for the Planning Commission to send the matter to the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council.

There is some expectation that the Planning Commission will finally be done dealing with the Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project during it May meeting, if they do not hold special meetings in the interim period to get all the measures done with.

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council will then take up the issues.

Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor Larry Clark is recusing himself from the Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project because he resides within an area that is very close to the campus.

Dr. Peter Gardiner, a member of the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council is making progress on recovering from a long illness and it is hoped he will participate in the discussions, debates, and votes on the matters.

If Dr. Gardiner is not able to participate, only three of the five members of the City Council will be able to vote on the matters.

Three voting members is the minimum number of Council Members who can decide the fate of the Project.

More information about the Project will be provided in forthcoming posts.

Anyone is invited to submit a post of their own to be published on this blog. All one needs to do is Email me you contribution of a post to the address at the top of this blog.

Everyone is also encouraged to discuss and debate the issues by making comments to any of the posts viewed on this blog.

Thank you.