CALTRANS SITE EYED FOR SCHOOL PROSPECT A SHIFT FROM ROBINSONS-MAY LOCATION.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Unified School District wants to build a high school on Caltrans property in North Hollywood rather than the Robinsons-May headquarters - a move that could save jobs, homes and transportation hubs, a school board member said Monday.

Caprice Young said she will introduce a motion at the Feb. 6 school board meeting urging the district to locate a 1,700-student high school on a parcel owned by the California Department of Transportation. The 11-acre site is bounded by Chandler Boulevard, Cumpston Street, Fair and Vineland avenues.

``I think it's great; it's about time we made a decision,'' said Young. She first suggested building the school on the site of the Robinsons-May corporate headquarters at Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street in North Hollywood.

In the past 18 months the district has had trouble finding a suitable location for the new school. The Robinsons-May property drew the ire of store officials and residents who said the proposal would eliminate nearly 2,000 local jobs.

After considering other nearby locations, the district now is considering the Caltrans property, Young said.

Robinsons-May Chairman Robert Soroka said he was pleased to hear the district had identified another site.

Still, he said, he won't be fully relieved until it's a done deal and his location is officially withdrawn from consideration.

``Until we're officially taken off the list, obviously we'll continue to be concerned,'' Soroka said.

The Caltrans site also pleased elected officials and residents who had opposed building the school at Robinsons-May and, most recently, a district proposal to build on Metropolitan Transportation Authority land near the North Hollywood subway station. A 30-acre commercial/office/housing project is planned for the MTA site.

``The Caltrans site is a much better location than the adjacent MTA property,'' said City Councilman Joel Wachs, a mayoral candidate, who worried that a school on the MTA site would hamper future development.

North Hollywood resident James Albright also said, ``I think it might be a pretty good answer to things.''

The district plans to build 18 schools in the San Fernando Valley in the next six years, including 15 in the Northeast Valley, one of the most crowded regions in the district. That 15 includes three high schools, two middle schools, four elementary schools and six primary centers.

Robert Buxbaum, the district's interim chief executive of facilities, said the proposed North Hollywood site had been identified previously, and that district real estate staff has returned to it now as potentially the best from a ``neighborhood, political and logistical point of view.''

Young said the property would not require the taking of hundreds of homes as other proposals would, nor interfere with the community's transportation and commercial hubs.

``You have to make hard decisions when you're building schools,'' Young said. ``This is the least bad.''

Caltrans currently is the major property owner on the site the district wants, with a major heavy equipment and maintenance facility there. Before it agrees to move - either for a development or school - it needs a replacement facility on twice as much land to meet its own growth, Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli said.

Staff Writer Harrison Sheppard contributed to this story.

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Map: Robinsons May site

Approximate site for new school