UPDATE (11:31 p.m.) : The developer has asked for a continuance from the City Planning Commission to "re-think the project and to perform additional community outreach," according to a copy of the developer's letter posted on the LA-32 Neighborhood Council website (here).

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Developers of a controversial mixed use project in Northeast Los Angeles will have to overcome Planning staff and neighborhood opposition when they present their case to the City Planning Commission on Thursday.

City Terrace LLC is proposing a 45,388-square-foot Charter Elementary School, a 20-unit multi-family residential structure and a 2,363 square-foot cafe on a vacant, 4.8-acre hillside lot in the 2500 block of North Eastern Avenue in El Sereno.

The development requires a Zone Change (with new Height District) and General Plan Amendment in order to be built as constructed. But the Planning Department staff report on the project just released recommends that the City Planning Commission denies both requests, which would kill the project if the CPC concurs.

The project has received a lot of attention from local residents, neighborhood groups and media. At a recent, special meeting of the LA-32 Neighborhood Council, the developer's presentation caused an "audible gasp" from neighbors who were surprised at its size and complexity, according to Curbed LA.

Opponents have created a website (http://90032.org/) to gather opposition signatures and collect documents produced by the developer and Planning Department.

The City Planning Commission meeting Thursday starts at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall, 200 N. Spring St., Room 350.

Preserve El Sereno website:
http://90032.org/

Curbed LA:  No Love For School/Apartment Project on El Sereno Hillside
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/07/no_love_at_all_for_schoolapartment_project_on_el_sereno_hillside.php

Eastsider LA:  El Sereno mixed-use project meets with resistance
http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2013/07/el-sereno-mixed-use-project-meets-with-resistance/

The City Planning Commission will consider a proposal Thursday to allow a new 500-student charter school in a Del Rey business park.

Green Dot, the Los Angeles-based nationally recognized charter school operator, has requested a Conditional Use Permit to move its Westminster middle school to a two-story office building at the northeast corner of McConnell Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard in Del Rey.

Charter schools are publicly funded schools that are chartered by local school districts, county offices of education or the state to educate their students with their own, unique educational system. Many charter schools operate within existing school facilities, but the Los  Angeles Unified School District is so impacted that a large percentage of its charter schools must rent private space to operate. Green Dot says it has outgrown the space it currently shares on the campus of Cowan Elementary School in Westchester.

The proposal requires a Conditional Use Permit because operating a school is not a by-right use in the M2 zone, where the subject site is located. The project site is surrounded by light manufacturing uses to the north, east and west, and vacant land to the south that is zoned multi-family residential and commercial as part of the Playa Vista Area D Specific Plan.

The Del Rey Neighborhood Council voted to support the application after much discussion about the project's traffic impact on the neighborhood. The NC's first vote was to oppose the project as first proposed but to send the request back to its Land Use Committee for further discussion.

Former Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who was termed out of office this summer, told the Argonaut News in December that he supports the Conditional Use Permit request.  "I will definitely be speaking in favor of it, as long as there are no critical planning issues,” Rosendahl said. Newly elected Councilman Mike Bonin hasn't publicly stated his position on the project.

The City Planning Commission meets Thursday at 8:30 a.m. in the Public Works Board Room (#350), 200 N. Main Street, Los Angeles.

Argonaut News: Green Dot Charter school seeks relocation to light industrial area
http://argonautnews.com/del-rey-green-dot-charter-school-seeks-relocation-to-light-industrial-area/

Del Rey Neighborhood Council vote:
http://www.delreync.org/GreenDotRelocation

Del Rey Neighborhood Council Fact Sheet:
http://www.delreync.org/sites/default/files/Fact%20Sheet%2011-12-12_0.pdf

City Planning Commission agenda:
http://ens.lacity.org/pln/cityplnagenda/plncityplnagenda28583181_07112013.pdf

Planning Department electronic tracking: CPC-2012-2904-CU
http://planning.lacity.org/cts_internet/index.cfm?urlCaseId=189032&caseNumber=CPC-2012-2904-CU&fuseaction=case.summary