When 62 Equals Zero

During the June 15, 2010 Rancho Palos Verdes City Council meeting, Councilman Douglas Stern asked for clarification between the approximately 62 differences between The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project passed by the Council and The Marymount Plan, the Specific Zone plan that would have to be approved by voters this coming November 2 to allow Marymount College the right to build according to its plan and not the one approved by the City Council.

Also during the same meeting, Dr. Michael Brophy, Marymount's President confided to the Council and the public that The Marymount Plan was the same plan approved by the Rancho Palos Verdes Planning Commission, with only on-campus housing being the only difference.

In reality, there are probably more like 7-10 differences between what the Council approved as The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project and what the Planning Commission approved and sent to the Council for consideration and 'tinkering'.

Those differences involve lowering the height of the roof of the gym and adding some movement of the large field, two tennis courts, and a concrete center median on Palos Verdes Drive East, with the changes reflecting the Council's concern for the safety of everyone.

When Dr. Brophy stated that he objected to the 'tinkering' between what he was accepting by the Planning Commission and what was approved by the Council, he failed to mention that what is part of both the issues before the Planning Commission and then passed by the Council is different than what is in The Marymount Plan and is NOT what he stated was in The Project approved and sent forward by the Planning Commission.

This is yet, in my opinion, another deceptive piece Dr. Brophy is attempting to enter into the debate over whether to vote "Yes" or "No" on The Marymount Plan's Initiative.

Dr. Brophy is fundamentally incorrect to assert that what the Planning Commission approved is what is in The Marymount Plan, and he knows it.

Nowhere in the approval by the Planning Commission does it allow Marymount to forgo oversight by the City Council, periodic review by the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, and elimination of many of the conditional uses permitted by the Planning Commission and the Council that Marymount seeks to override.

The Planning Commission set levels and limits for noise, usage of facilities, whether Marymount could use its campus for commercial purposed, and many other items that Marymount now considers should be allowed with no city oversight or review or control.

Most of the 62 differences pointed out by Councilman Douglas Stern and verified by City Staff and the City Attorney involve Marymount's desire to have itself as the regulator and not representatives of the residents of Rancho Palos Verdes.

I hope that all potential voters who cast their vote for or against The Marymount Plan's Initiative take the time to read every single point of difference between the already approved Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project and The Marymount Plan. If voters are truly objective and are allowed to read the truth, the complete truth, they will easily find that Dr. Brophy and his supporters are attempting to grab power and control of a portion of our city that should be the responsibility and the authority of our City Council and other representatives of the voters in our city who elected the Council Members to represent them and not Dr. Brophy and folks at Marymount who are demanding rights far in excess of what our residents currently receive.