An Interesting Proposal From Marymount

At tonight's City Council meeting, beginning at 7:00 PM at Fred Hess Park on Hawthorne Blvd., the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council will make their final approval to the only remaining element of The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project.

The Council will take up and most likely approve the construction of a large athletic field on the western side of the Marymount campus.

At the meeting on March 31, when the other elements of The Project were approved, the placement of a regulation size soccer field was approved for construction on the eastern side of the campus.

Both Marymount's President, Dr. Michael Brophy and the college's attorney, Mr. Don Davis, stated there would not be a field constructed on the eastern side of the campus and that it was better to actually and ultimately deny Marymount from building a new field on its eastern side.

Item number 13 of tonight's agenda will take up only one issue regarding Marymount and Mayor Wolowicz has been quoted that the council is not willing or interested in hearing about anything other than the placement and approval of a field on Marymount's western side.

During the March 31 discussion about the placement of the field, Councilman Brian Campbell stated he was not willing to vote to have the field on the western side of the campus without more mitigation being applied.

Councilman Campbell offered three items he felt would provide mitigation should balls or other objects coming from the large field or the tennis courts land on Palos Verdes Drive East within the long curve the road has around a good portion of the campus.

Councilman Campbell's three items were the heightening of the permanent fencing along the proposed western side and more northern side of the field and tennis courts, the heightening of the poles that support the retractable netting and that netting from the current proposal that they be 20 feet tall to 30 feet tall, and that the construction and installation of a permanent strong barrier be added in the center portion of Palos Verdes Drive East such that most vehicles would not pass into opposing lanes if their drivers became distracted by objects landing on or near vehicles traveling along the sloping long curve.

I am not the only one who likes the idea of a median of some type along that curve and I have opined that I thought Marymount College should help pay for something to prevent most vehicles from crossing over to the opposite side.

Yesterday, officials from Marymount College made the proposal that they would pay up to $200,000 dollars to help defray costs required to place a concrete median along the part of the road I described.

That is a stand-up thing Marymount is now offering. The article I published on this blog stated that is might cost 1.9 Million Dollars to have a median constructed.

I drove between Palos Verdes Drive North and Silver Spur Road on both Hawthorne and Creshaw Blvds yesterday and saw the real differences between the two medians on those portions of roads.

I would prefer having a concrete curb with short foliage being between closely spaced trees with trunk large enough to prohibit most crashing vehicles from going from one direction to another.

I thing having natural structures to prevent opposing traffic crashes is better than the barren but strong concrete structures seen along Crenshaw.

I also feel that everyone would prefer better views of the median that won't take up that much of the views of residents living above the area and I hope those folks like greenery as opposed to stark concrete that will eventually have skid marks and crash evidence throughout.

I wrote my comments for the item to the Council members and I won't speak on that agenda item at tonight's meeting. I am comfortable with whatever the majority of the members approve of and I think they will approve the construction of the large field on the western side of the campus and keep the certificate of occupancy on file until the median I believe they will approve is finished.