- Safety Concerns
- Increased Traffic
- Over Crowding
- Diminished Quality of Life
- Long Commute to Schools
- Property Value Loss
The LAUSD School Board will be voting on a motion to use the Oso School site for workforce/affordable housing, or to exchange the property with a developer, who would be able to request rezoning of the site for high density housing resulting in up to 700 units with limited parking and unlimited height restrictions. Our property values, our quality of life in Carlton Terrace, and the opportunity to have a neighborhood school are at risk. Carlton Terrace is comprised of 1100 homes, we must unite and make our voices heard!
Watch this video summary of the prior school board meeting discussing the motion:
HISTORY
The Carlton Terrace neighborhood was built in the 1960s, with Oso Elementary School at the heart of the development. Thirty years ago, as demographics shifted, the elementary school was closed. Various proposals for the land had been ! oated over the years, but none came to fruition. The property stood vacant and deteriorating for nearly three decades.
In 2015 the old school was razed and the property became the focus of renewed interest.
In 2015, a charter school organization did extensive planning for an elementary school on the property. This proposal was supported by many of the neighbors, but at the last minute LAUSD unexpectedly voted against approving the school.
The Oso school property’s fate has been uncertain ever since.
WHY NOW?
Warner Center development
Over 10,000 new housing units have been built or are under construction in Warner Center; an additional 16,000 units are in the Warner Center 2035 Plan, resulting in thousands of new students. Existing schools are at or over capacity, and no new schools are being built. A new school needs to be built at the same time as the housing units, or the children of the young families moving into the new housing units will have no schools to go to.
WHAT ARE WE ASKING FOR?
We are urging LAUSD to commit to at least one of the following:
1) Remove The Oso School Site from the list of properties under consideration for housing development
2) Build an Early Childhood Center/ Elementary School on the Oso Site.
3) Maintain the property in its present vacant and secured state until a school can be built
4) Any future development must be consistent with the existing character and zoning in Carlton Terrace
WHY IS AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THE BEST USE FOR THE PROPERTY?
- Schools are good neighbors
A. Activity on the property limited to daylight hours, with minimal disruption to the neighbors
B. Minimal traffic
C. Adequate security day and night
D. Protects entire neighborhood from adverse in! uences by zoning and other restrictions - A new elementary school is urgently needed for the Oso area.
A. Present schools are over capacity
B. Influx of school-age population is on the way from Warner Center
C. Developers have already paid for new schooling through Warner Center construction fees - Conforms with original purpose
A. Kids can walk/bike to school
B. Positive influence on property values
WHY IS MAINTAINING STATUS QUO AN ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVE?
- Any other use, even temporary, interferes with availability for schools
- Other uses hard to dislodge once established
- Other uses adversely impact neighborhood (e.g., construction headquarters)
WHO WE ARE?
We are your neighbors – Concerned homeowners and residents of the Carlton Terrace area who wish to improve the quality of life in our neighborhood.
Please send any questions or comments to [email protected].
