Plans for Preschool Gain Approval

Manhattan Beach City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to move forward with the Chalk Preschool project at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, but not without imposing some specific guidelines.

With the site of the preschool, 1030 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, being located slightly west of the intersection between Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard, two of the busiest streets in the city, both City Council and the Manhattan Beach community have expressed concerns regarding an increase in traffic near the intersection.

This prompted City Council to request that several aspects of the project be altered, namely, drop-off times.

At the nearest Chalk Preschool, located in Westwood, parents are able to drop their children off at 7:30 a.m. for the Full Day program, and at 8:30 a.m. for the Morning Half Day program.

Councilmember Wayne Powell suggested that the preschool aim for a Morning Half Day program where children are dropped of between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., after Manhattan Beach traffic engineer Jack Rydell presented to the Council pictures of morning congestion on Manhattan Beach Boulevard close to 8 a.m.

Asked if a later drop-off time would help in alleviating city traffic, Rydell answered, “definitely.”

Chalk Preschool proprietor Doug Oleff, a Manhattan Beach resident, disagreed that the school would cause a significant traffic increase regardless of time, but agreed to work with City Council regarding the issue of the drop-off schedule.

“I’m a resident here and I think it’s a non-issue,” Oleff said. “But the school is going to work with only 91 kids. There will be more cars on the street but it will be one car in and one car out.”

Originally, Oleff and architect Patrick Killen were aiming for a preschool that accommodated 119 kids, but decided to lessen the number by approximately 25 percent, to 91 kids, with hopes of the project being approved by the Department of Social Services.

“We know we will not get licensed for 119 children,” Killen told City Council. “We’re not even interested in that number. We are now pursuing 91 children.”

Aside from traffic congestion and the number of children attending the school, Powell and other Councilmembers questioned the amount of parking spaces available on the school site and the organization of those spaces.

Killen and Oleff maintain that with the children arriving at staggered times, at no point will a significant amount of cars be present on the site. And, those cars that are on the site will be parked rather than creating congestion.

“Preschool is decisively different than elementary school,” Killen said. “You do not drop children off and drive off. In a preschool situation, you’re required to park your car, walk your child inside, sign in the child, walk back out and leave.”

Rydell agreed that with a population of 91 children, Killen’s current parking method will work.

“We have enough space for people to come in and handle their business, maybe stay for a few minutes, and then leave,” Rydell said.

However, even though the number of children has dropped from 119 to 91, Killen is proposing that the school still employs 17 parking spots, 12 full and five compact spots, a number he initially proposed with the larger capacity of children.

With 91 children, the school would only be required to have 13 parking spots, as the ratio must equal one parking spot to every seven students.

Council agreed to allow 17 parking spaces but asked that two of the compact spaces be made into full spaces.

And although the plans were met with some vexation, specifically from Powell, Council chose to approve the resolution, partly considering that the alternative could be  retail space.

“It’s not ideal but the alternative is worse,” Powell said of the project. “If the applicant is willing follow these stipulations, I’d be willing to approve this project.”