RESIDENTS OPPOSING TEEN SITE; FACILITY WOULD SERVE JUVENILE OFFENDERS.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer Residents in a west Palmdale neighborhood are gathering petition signatures in opposition to a proposed school for teen-agers furloughed from juvenile probation camps. A community education center, operated by the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Office of Education, is scheduled to open in October at Avenue P-8 and 10th Street West on property that is now a church. The school would serve students who are residents of Palmdale and who have been convicted of offenses such as car theft, burglary, drug charges and gang-related incidents. ``They never bothered to take input from the community as to whether we would want the school or not,'' said Sheldon Epstein, a resident and Palmdale School District The Palmdale School District is a school district that serves a major part of the city of Palmdale, California (USA). The Palmdale School District was first formed in 1888. Approximately 28,000 students are enrolled in the Palmdale School District. trustee. ``To have it located in a residential area is ill-advised.'' Epstein, who helped organize the drive, said the petitions will be submitted to the Palmdale City Council and Planning Commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle , the Palmdale Chamber of Commerce, the Los Angeles County Board of Education, and Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San . The school district is scheduled at tonight's meeting to consider voicing formal opposition to the school. A staff report notes the campus would be within a half-mile of Juniper Intermediate School and within two miles of Summerwind and Palmdale Learning Plaza schools. Board of Education member Sophia Waugh, a resident of Acton and former Antelope Valley Union High School District The Antelope Valley Union High School District (A.V.U.H.S.D.) is located in the Antelope Valley area of California, in northern Los Angeles County. The district includes eight public high schools, one trade school, and two continuation high schools in the cities of Palmdale trustee, will attend the Palmdale meeting to talk about residents' concerns. ``We believed we had the support of the city and the community for the school,'' said Margo Minecki, Office of Education spokeswoman. ``Now we learn local residents are concerned about the location. We want to bring community members to the table to address their concerns.'' As for whether the county would be willing to move the school, Minecki said the county is ``flexible and open to all possibilities.'' While residents complain they were not notified of plans for the school or given a chance to voice their concerns, county officials say they have been working with the city to find a suitable location and have proceeded with Palmdale's cooperation. No public hearings have been held by the city because the county Board of Education adopted a resolution last November, setting aside the city's zoning ordinance to allow the county to open the school. County officials said the board does not exercise this authority without the cooperation of the city. The county had previously considered sites in downtown Palmdale and in a shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into in the 2200 block of East Palmdale Boulevard. City officials opposed the downtown site, saying it was not a prudent use in an area the city is trying to revitalize re·vi·tal·ize tr.v. re·vi·tal·ized, re·vi·tal·iz·ing, re·vi·tal·iz·es To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. , Mayor Jim Ledford said. The shopping center was dropped after the building owner did not countersign The inscription of one's name at the end of a writing, done by a secretary or a subordinate, to attest to the fact that such a writing has been signed by a principal or a superior, thereby vouching for the genuineness of the signature. a lease when another retail tenant expressed interest in the site, officials said. The site is within city limits, but the nearest homes are in the unincorporated Adj. 1. unincorporated - not organized and maintained as a legal corporation unorganised, unorganized - not having or belonging to a structured whole; "unorganized territories lack a formal government" Desert View Highlands area. County education officials maintain that the school would make for a safer community because it provides structured programs and would not lead to a decline in property values. Since April 1997, the county has run another school just like it at Division Street and Avenue K-8 in Lancaster, serving between 50 to 60 youths. About 40 percent of those enrolled are teen-agers from Palmdale. The county Office of Education, through its juvenile court juvenile court Special court handling problems of delinquent, neglected, or abused children. Two types of cases are processed by a juvenile court: civil matters, often concerning care of an abandoned or impoverished child, and criminal matters, arising from antisocial and community schools division, runs 52 schools throughout the county, some at juvenile halls, some in camps and the majority in community education centers. |
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