Alhambra : School Can’t Rezone Land

The City Council on Monday unanimously rejected an appeal by Ramona Convent Secondary School to rezone for multiple-unit housing two acres of its 20-acre grounds at West Glendon Way and South Marengo Avenue.

Attorney Roger Sullivan, representing the school, argued that the current zoning designation of “Open Space” unjustly forces the school to provide the city with a free park.

However, City Atty. Leland Dolley said the open space zone allows the school to use the land for any educational purpose. It does not force school officials to open it to the public, city officials said.

School officials, who failed in a related 1990 lawsuit seeking to subdivide the land, are now willing to drop their appeal in that case if the city will let them build single-family homes on the property, Sullivan said.