The West Hollywood Planning Commission agreed Thursday night to remove the expiration date for a parochial school’s conditional use permit (CUP) thanks to its good neighbor policies.
The Maimonides Academy, located at 310 N. Huntley Drive and 8511-8561 Beverly Place (directly behind the Sofitel Hotel), dates back 37 years, before the city was formed. In 1992, the city granted a 10-year CUP to the Jewish day school, which offers nursery through eighth-grade classes.
A CUP allows a city to consider special uses that may be essential or desirable to a community, but are not allowed within the zoning district.
In 2002, the CUP was renewed for another 10 years, but with strict conditions attached regarding code violations. Residents in the adjoining neighborhood complained about traffic problems with dropping off/picking up students, noise violations and after-hours activities.
As a result of those 2002 conditions, Maimonides made changes to address complaints and also began conducting annual neighborhood meetings. Since there have been no complaints in the past 10 years, the school asked to have the expiration date of the CUP removed.
Resident Lauren Meister, speaking on behalf of the West Hollywood West Residents Association, said the association was not opposing the application because the request was consistent with the other private schools in the city, none of which have expiration dates on their CUPs.
Meister also said the relationship between Maimonides and the neighborhood had vastly improved in the last decade.
“The difference between 2002 and now, the code enforcement issues that were happening were happening constantly,” said Meister. “That’s not the case now and hasn’t been the case really I’d say for the last 10 years … we really worked hard to work with the school to make a better relationship because it was not a fun relationship for anybody.”
Nonetheless, the Commission had concerns about removing the expiration date.
“We had a 10-year period where they were on a short leash and now there is strict compliance,” noted Commissioner John Altschul, wondering how the school would behave if that leash was loosened.
Commissioner Marc Yeber wondered if the CUP was made open ended, what could residents do if there were future problems, what could trigger a review of the CUP.
Acting Planning Manager David DeGrazia explained that if a resident complained during public comment at a city meeting or filed a complaint with City Hall, city staff would investigate and then could bring Maimonides in for a review.
Satisfied that residents would have a mechanism to bring about a review, the Commission voted 6-0 to approve the application. Commissioner Sue Buckner was absent.
Afterward, Rabbi Baruch Kupfer, the school’s executive director, told WEHOville he was pleased by the Commission’s decision.
“We worked very hard to work with the neighbors and to take into account whatever ramifications the school may have on the neighborhood,” Kupfer said. “We tried to cooperate in every way. I think we’ve been successful and we appreciate West Hollywood reaching out and helping create that relationship.”
