El Camino Real Charter High School – Shoup Ave.

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Case No.:   CPC 2019-4086(CU)(ZV)
Address:  7401 N. Shoup Avenue, 91307

Case Processing Status:  On March 28, 2024, the City Planning Commission will hold a public meeting to consider staff’s recommendations.   (Public Notice)

Community Outreach:   Letters were mailed to addresses within 500 feet of the subject site announcing the West Hills Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting. (Read Letter)

  • West Hills Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting Monday, July 9,  2019   (500-foot mail notice)
  • West Hills Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting Monday, December 9, 2019 (Abutting properties mail notice)
  • West Hills Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting Monday, February 11, 2020  (No notice except on NC’s website) 
  • West Hills Neighborhood Council, March 5, 2020 (No notice accept on the NC’s website )  APPROVED WITH RECOMMENDATION TO MODIFY SEVERAL CONDITIONS)
  • Read West Hills Neighborhood Council’s Letter to Department of City Planning

Note:  No one attended the meetings regarding the Project and no written testimony was submitted)

BACKGROUND

Formally known as El Camino Real High School, opened on February 3, 1969. It served grades 10-12 and opened to ninth graders in the mid-eighties. In 2011, El Camino became an Independent Conversion Charter High School. Until recently, the El Camino Real Charter High School Independent Study Program was located at 5440 Valley Circle, Woodland Hills.

El Camino Real Charter High School’s Independent Study Program (ISP) educates students unable to attend school in a traditional five-day-a-week format. It is designed for students with special interests and abilities, scheduling problems, or individual needs that cannot be accommodated in the traditional school setting. All courses are offered via direct, teacher-led instruction with an online component, with highly qualified educators overseeing student progress. Students registered in the ISP school program attend the school campus to meet with their teachers one day per week, generally for 1-3 hours. The rest of a students’ school week is spent at home, engaged in independent learning and study. Students must meet all independent study eligibility requirements because the program offers rigorous and challenging courses.

The primary purpose of Independent Study is to offer a means of individualizing students’ educational programs whose needs are better met through study outside of the regular classroom setting.

On September 22, 2016, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission approved Case No. CPC-2016-1256-(CU) permitting the subject Property to be used as a public charter school for an Independent Study Program (ISP).  This allowed El Camino Real Charter School Independent Study Program to move from 5440 Valley Circle, Woodland Hills, El Camino Real High School.

PROPERTY  (See ZIMAS for Detail)

The property is located at 7401 Shoup Avenue and is legally prescribed as Lot 1, Tract 29454. The site is zoned A1-1 with Low Residential Community Plan designation.

The property is a level, rectangular-shaped, corner/through, record lot, consisting of approximately 1.84 acres, having frontage on Shoup Avenue with an approximate depth of 300 feet.

Improvements include the following: Building. A school building was first constructed in 1950 and expanded in 1964 to its present size. The property’s one-story building is approximately 15,025 square feet. The building currently consisted of nine classrooms, a multipurpose room with no fixed seating, and a meeting room.

Parking: The property includes parking on a flat, striped surface lot marked for 69 parking spaces, as required by Case No. CPC-2016-1256(CU). The lot has room for 10-15 unstriped overflow cars and includes an onsite drop-off and pickup area.

PROJECT

After approval of Case No. CPC 2016-1256(CU), management changed at El Camino Real Charter High School and an audit determined several conditions in Case No. CPC 2016-1256-(CU) hindered the viability of operating at the proposed location on Shoup Avenue.  El Camino Real Charter High is requesting to modify the conditions of Case No. CPC 2016-1256(CU).

There is no increase in the square footage of the building, reduction of required parking, or decrease in landscape from that approved in Case No. CPC 2016-1256(C

REQUESTS

El Camino ISP is requesting to modify several conditions of Case No. CPC 2016-1256(CU), pursuant to Section 12.24-U,24 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code.  See below regarding requested modifications and justifications. 

The second request includes a Variance, pursuant to Section 12.27 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, for two signs that exceed 20 square feet; otherwise prohibited by Section 12.21-A,7(g) of the Los Angeles Municipal Code.  See below regarding justifications.

PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS TO THE CONDITIONS OF CPC 2016-2016-1256(CU)

(Strikeout is old / Underline is new)

Condition No. 3:  Property Use

Property Use. The use of the subject property shall be limited to a school in substantial compliance with the herein conditions. , grades Kindergarten through 12, with a maximum enrollment of 400 students and 50 students onsite at one time.

Justification for Modification:  “Property Use” condition was historically meant to formally state the authorized use(s) as cited in the Grant Clause.  Condition modified where Grant Clause identifies the use.

Kindergarten was not and is not a proposed use.

Lastly, a restriction on enrollment is not related to “Use of Land”.  Regulating use of land is a legitimate governmental purpose.  However, regulating enrollment is a business matter.  For example, El Camino Real Charter School should be able to modify its operation by enrolling more than 400 students in a distance-learning program conducted online; whereby, not resulting in any increase in the number of students onsite.

Refer to Condition No. 12 in regard to the number of students on campus at any one time and throughout the day.

Condition No. 5:  Hours of Operation Student/Faculty/Administration Use

Hours of Operation. Hours of operation instruction in the Independent Study Program (“ISP”) and other educational programs shall be limited to 8 a.m. until 5 3:30 p.m. except that t To prepare for the students, faculty and staff shall be permitted to arrive at 7:00 am and to depart at 6 5:30 p.m. Hours of instruction are limited to 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Days of operation are limited to Monday through Friday.

Afterschool activities such as club meetings shall be permitted from 3:30 pm until 7:00 pm Monday through Friday.

During certain evenings, weekends and summer dates, the facility may be available on a restricted basis to faculty, staff, and student groups from of El Camino on an as need basis to meet or hold training sessions (i.e., professional development and leadership meetings).  ISP instruction and education programs shall not occur during the school’s summer break except small group learning sessions related to technology and testing procedures.

 Justification for Modification: The condition is intended to govern hours of instructional/educational programs and afterschool activities. The intent is that hours of instruction/educational programs and afterschool activities should not overlap with Special Events (i.e., Condition No. 6) in order to reduce the intensity of use of the site at any one time.

Special Events hours are governed by Condition No. 6 and use of the campus by the Certified Neighborhood Council is mentioned in Condition No. 20.

Condition No 6: Special Events (Also, refer to Case No. CPC 2016-1256(CU), Condition No. 20)

Special Events. Not more than 12 Special Events per year five (5) Special Events per month are authorized.  Special events are activities involving parents and/or other visitors where more than 50 vehicles are anticipated at one time. School administrative board meetings and parent/teacher meetings are excluded from the definition of Special Events.

Special Events hours are as stated below:

a.  Monday through Friday: 3:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

b.  Saturday and Sunday and Holidays 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

c.  Special Events shall not occur with any Student/Faculty/ Administrative Use:

Justification for Modification:

Examples of Special Events include Career Fair, College Fair, Workshops (e.g., mental health, college financial aid, retirement planning, etc.), and professional development.

As schools seek to tackle the achievement gap and how to build healthy neighborhoods, they are transforming themselves to achieve educational results by fulfilling a broader social function. Educators are exploring ways to use their institutions as “hubs” to organize and deliver a range of services beyond their traditional core offerings. “When a school integrates and begins to function as a hub, it organizes services for its own students as well as, in certain cases, the broader school community such as parents and other family members in an effort to improve the chances for students to excel academically. Performing these services also stands to benefit the local community.”

Increase in the number of Special Events from 12 a year to 60 a year. It is noted that the proposed modification for 60 Special Events a year is not considerably more than the 48 classes per year allowed by-right in single-family zones for Adult Education Classes.  Since 1966, the Los Angeles Municipal Code has allowed “Occasional Use of Private Homes for Adult Education Classes.” in single-family residential Zone Classifications without discretionary review, if classes are no more than one day a week for up to 30 students.

Monday to Friday hours for Special Events are patterned after Commercial Corner operational hours found in Section 12.22-A,23 of LAMC while Saturday and Sunday hours are even less.  Operating hours in Section 12.22-A,23 were established to mitigate adverse impacts caused by commercial activities adjacent to residential areas.  Saturday and Sunday hours proposed in Condition No. 6 provide greater mitigation from traffic, parking, noise, and light pollution on weekends and holidays than the standard Commercial Corner hours.

Hours for Special Events will not overlap with instruction/educational programs and after school activities in order to reduce potential traffic, parking, and noise impacts to the surrounding residential community.

Condition No. 10:  Parking Location Management (Also, refer to Case No. CPC 2016-1256(CU), Condition No. 24)

a.   Parking Location. No students, faculty, or other employees of the school shall be permitted to park off-site; they shall only be permitted to park on-site in the schools’ parking lot. All students who drive to school, all faculty and all other employees shall be instructed by the management of the school to park on-site and not on the adjacent streets.

b .  Permit System. A student permit driving or parking system shall be established enabling the school to monitor Trips and parking availability.

c.  Transportation Demand Management:

i. Include information in brochure programs and flyers advertising activities encouraging alternative transportation and as well offer incentives to users who use alternative means of transportation other than single occupancy vehicles.

ii. To reduce potential spillover parking in residential areas, place signs or notices in key locations on-site or other means presenting parking policies and warning drivers of the possibility of being towed for noncompliance with Municipal Code parking laws and herein conditions.

iii. Parking Overflow. A parking plan/valet plan shall be prepared indicating how overflow parking would be managed by use of on-site tandem parking and at an off-site location within 1,500 feet of the subject site.

iv. Use due diligence in seeking additional sites for parking, if other mitigation measures are found deficient.

Justification for Modification:  Recent improvements to the campus include installing bike and skateboard racks and electric vehicle charging stations.  Notwithstanding, Condition No. 10 is modified to include additional Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies and implementation, which increase access to transportation systems, improve mobility, and minimize negative impacts of vehicular travel such as traffic congestion and air pollution in our auto‐dominated physical environment.

Modification to Condition No. 10 requires providing information to students and visitors on travel choices and parking, marketing and communications, and possibly financial incentives. The goal is to make non-solo driving more attractive. Furthermore, the condition is modified to impose a higher standard of “due diligence” (i.e., Condition No. 10.c.iv) than the language of the condition.  In addition, Condition No. 10 is modified to require the campus to track and monitor the number of students who drive to campus (i.e., Condition 10.b).

Condition No. 12:  Enrollment Use of Property at Any One-Time

Enrollment.  Use of Property at any One-Time   Enrollment shall not exceed 25 students per day in grades 9-12 in year one and a maximum of 80 students per day in grades K-12. Morning and afternoon student arrival and departure times shall be staggered.  Not more than 50 ISP students shall be onsite at one time for instruction/education and not exceed 150 during any one day. The maximum number of teachers and staff shall not exceed 20 on-site at any one time.

Justification for Modification:  

From 1964 until 1997, the facility served as a synagogue, school, and daycare. From 1997 until 2015, the facility served as a private school with 40 staff and 125 students (i.e., Case No. ZA 97-0003 (CUZ)).  Subsequently, Case No. CPC-2016-1256-(CU) modified the number of students allowed in a day.

However, the language in Case No. CPC-2016-1256-(CU), Condition No. 12 is perplexing by citing “25 students per day in grades 9-12 in year one and a maximum of 80 students per day in grades K-12”  Does this mean 105 students 9-12 are permitted and what is the permitted number after the first year?

Note that Condition No. 3, prior to the proposed modification, limited the number of students on campus at any one time to 50.  That is now incorporated into Condition No.12, which is the same limit approved pursuant to Case No. CPC 2016-1256(CU).

Condition No. 12 removes reference to enrollment. As discussed above regarding Condition No. 3, a restriction on enrollment is not related to “Use of Land”, which is a legitimate governmental purpose of land use planning. Rather, it is a business matter.

Condition No. 12 is modified to permit 150 students a day so to create three instructional sessions of staggered attendance with no more than 50 students in a session on campus at any one time. Fifty (50) students at any one time was imposed pursuant to Case No. CPC 2016-1256(CU) (i.e., Condition Nos. 3, 12)

Condition No. 13:  Signs

Signs. All exterior signs, except as listed below, shall be of an identification type and shall be affixed to the façade of the building and comply with Section 12.21-A,7(g) of the Los Angeles Municipal Code. Directional-type signs shall be indicated on plans submitted to and approved by the Department of Building and Safety and the Department of Transportation.

Pursuant to an approved Variance, an approximately 77.1 square foot, non-illuminated wall sign on an east-facing wall that surrounds the parking lot at the southern portion of the site; and (2) an approximately 2.4 square foot, non-illuminated wall sign on an east facing wall at the school frontage.

Justification for Modification: Condition No. 13 of Case No. CPC 2016-1256(CU) permitted only identification signs affixed to the façade of the building. Being affixed to the building coupled with Section 12.21-A,7(g) of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (i.e., 20 square foot maximum size) creates a hardship due lack of sign visibility caused by the setback of the building from the street and speed of travel on Shoup Avenue.

The objectives for the proposed two signs are:

    • that the general public and site users benefit from signs having improved legibility, readability, and visibility (e.g. location, size, and lighting:
    • provide reasonable protection to the visual environment by controlling the size, height, location, and lighting of the signs so as not to overwhelm the residential character of the surrounding area; and,
    • design signs to not interfere with traffic safety or otherwise endanger public safety.
Several Documents Submitted to City Planning  for CPC 2019-4086(CU)(ZV):

Planning 101 – Relevant  Land Use and Planning Tools 

Zone Classification: A1-1 Zone Classification (See Section 12.05 of the LAMC)

General Plan Designation:  Low Residential  [Canoga Park –     Winnetka – Woodland Hills – West Hills – Community Plan]

Conditional Use Permit (Read comprehensive discussion on Conditional Use Permit)  

A Conditional Use Permit (CUP) is a discretionary action for a particular use that is not allowed as a matter of right within the Zone Classification. The discretionary review has singled out types of uses that are essentially desirable, but because of potential impacts are not desirable in every location, in unlimited numbers, or in a location without restrictions tailored to them.

Variance  (Read comprehensive discussion on Variance )

The theory behind state and local zoning ordinances is that uses within a particular area should be uniform.  Thus, it can be said that the purpose of the zone classifications is in order to comply with the general plan and provide compatibility between respective properties.  Such regulations are written on a citywide basis and cannot take into account individual unique characteristics of a specific property as well as consider dynamic changes in the economy and the use of land.  However, a variance is a grant of permission to depart from the literal enforcement of a zoning ordinance and allow the property to be used in a manner otherwise not permitted, provided that the spirit of the ordinance is observed and substantial justice is done without detrimental impacts to the community.

Findings (Read comprehensive discussion on  Findings)

Written “Findings of Fact” are required to support a decision of the decision-making body to approve or deny a discretionary action.  There are  several purposes for making findings including:

(1) providing a framework for making principled decisions, thus enhancing the integrity of the administrative process;

(2) helping make analysis orderly and reducing the likelihood that the agency will randomly leap from evidence to conclusion; and

(3) serving a public relations function by helping to persuade parties that administrative decision-making is careful, reasoned, and equitable. Findings should also justify any conditions which impose fees or other exactions.

Note:  It is the responsibility of an applicant to present Findings to the decision-maker(s)  in the form of Justifications.  The Justifications are in writing (i.e., application and supplemental information) and orally made at the public hearings.

Existing Conditional Use Permit Approval

At a public hearing on  September 22, 2016, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission approved Case No. CPC-2016-1256-(CU) for the property located at 7401 Shoup Avenue.   El Camino Real Charter High School was limited to a school, grades  Kindergarten through 12, with a maximum enrollment of 400 students and 50 students onsite at one time.  (Refer to below to see the Letter of Determination)

  • Planning Department Case Summary Database and Documents for Prior Approval  (Access Summary)
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