PROPERTY EXCHANGE GIVEN OK HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT TO SWAP ONE SITE FOR 2.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Twenty-five acres of prime real estate once proposed for a high school in west Palmdale could become a housing development.

School officials have decided to proceed with plans to swap the land on Rancho Vista Boulevard for two 60-acre parcels on which new high schools could be built in southeast Palmdale and near the rural community of Antelope Acres.

``The school district is full. In terms of classroom space, we need to be in a position to move forward with school sites,'' trustee Al Beattie said of the proposed deal. ``It gives us property at a time when we don't have money to buy it.''

Antelope Valley Union High School District trustees last week authorized administrators to develop an agreement to exchange the 25 acres for the two 60-acre parcels owned by J.P. Eliopulos Enterprises.

The Eliopulos firm has proposed building two apartment complexes in the Rancho Vista area that have been fiercely opposed by neighboring homeowners. One proposed complex borders the high school land, which is south of Rancho Vista Boulevard and west of 30th Street West.

Rancho Vista Homeowners Association leaders said after the board vote they were disappointed that school officials did not notify them that the property exchange was being considered.

``Our association had spoken to (Superintendent) Dr. David Vierra a while ago,'' association board member Angie Costleigh said. ``We had a feeling that this might be an idea. He had assured us that if this idea did come across, he would keep us posted. In the past couple of weeks we heard nothing.

``We want the development to be responsible, in keeping with the character of the neighborhood. We don't know what the plan is, so our concerns are, as long as it's good intentions and there's smart development we're happy,'' Costleigh said.

The 25 acres, acquired in 1999, is zoned for single-family homes, Beattie said.

Developer Andrew Eliopulos declined to say what his specific plans would be for the property.

High school officials said they want to get rid of the Rancho Vista property because it is too small for a conventional high school campus and is close to Highland and Quartz Hill high schools.

A district committee, which said the land was potentially worth between $5 million and $6 million, recommended last year that the district sell it.

The two large parcels are south of Pearblossom Highway, east of 47th Street East, and off Avenue G, west of 90th Street West.

For potential school sites, the high school district already owns 67 acres in southwest Palmdale's Ritter Ranch master-planned community, on which construction started this spring after years of delay due to recession and legal squabbles.

The Ritter Ranch site, acquired in 1995, is not centrally located in the high-growth areas where the district is looking to build schools, Beattie said.

``That doesn't logistically help us with students on the east side of Palmdale or in northwest Lancaster,'' he said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com