SUPERVISORS DELAY SCHOOL DECISION CAMPUS PLANNED FOR SITE NEAR AGOURA HILLS DRAWS DEBATE.

Byline: TROY ANDERSON Staff Writer

Plans to build a private religious school near Agoura Hills drew impassioned debate Tuesday as the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to delay a decision on the issue until May while the school works to reduce traffic and environmental impacts and improve fire evacuation plans.

The debate came nearly a decade after the Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School first sought to build a 750-student school northeast of Palo Comado Canyon Road and east of Cheseboro Road next to Agoura Hills.

Delayed by years of hearings and neighborhood opposition, the project would be constructed in six phases over 13 years.

``Everybody wants a school, but they don't want it next to them,'' Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. ``I've never had a school, church, synagogue or park that didn't engender precisely this kind of reaction. We are going to work with both the neighborhood and the school in an effort to resolve most of these issues the best we can.''

The proposed new site would include elementary and middle schools, a multipurpose room, auditorium, two libraries, a gymnasium and a sanctuary.

The school currently operates in leased space at 27400 Canwood St., about a mile east of the project site, and has about 210 students and 36 staff.

Residents near the proposed site complain it would exacerbate traffic and make it even more difficult to evacuate the area during a wildfire.

``The city's paramount concern is for the health and safety of its residents,'' Agoura Hills Mayor Dan Kuperberg said. ``The only justification for their (traffic) designs is money. It's cheaper.''

Agoura Hills resident Tara Farkash said she doesn't want to see the environment harmed to build the school.

``When they tear down the mountains and destroy the natural beauty, that is God's gift to us -- there is no going back,'' Farkash said.

But Benjamin Reznik, a Los Angeles attorney representing the school, said many changes have been made to the project to address traffic, fire and environmental concerns.

``So the message is we've been here a long time, the school has done everything it can, and it has tremendous support from the community, and Calabasas and Hidden Hills supports us,'' Reznik said.

Last June, the Regional Planning Commission approved a conditional-use permit for the 750-student school.

The environmental impact report certified by the commission found that a roundabout and a five-way traffic signal at Palo Comado Canyon Road and the 101 Freeway would mitigate any traffic impact.

But the school appealed to the Board of Supervisors. On Tuesday, supervisors directed county officials to develop an interim traffic plan for a school of no more than 390 students, more fully preserve the ridgeline and semirural and equestrian character of the area and create an evacuation plan.

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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