In escrow for purchase of a seven-acre property, the college would eventually build a 25,000 square foot facility in Malibu that would offer many of the courses that exist at its Santa Monica campuses.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Santa Monica College officials are currently studying the geology, soil samples and other issues involving the Yamaguchi Family Trust-owned property adjacent to City Hall following the college’s tentative purchase last week of the site for $8 million. The seven-acre piece of land is in a 90-day escrow, with the college hoping to eventually build a 25,000 square-foot, eight-classroom facility that would be attended by approximately 900 students each week, with no more than 350 students on-campus at any one time.
“We are under-serving Malibu, and that is the reason for putting in a center,” said Don Girard, SMC’s acting executive assistant to the president.
Girard said approximately 500 Malibu residents take courses at Santa Monica College, including full-time and part-time students. SMC officials did not know the exact number of full-time Malibu students at the college. Although the number of Malibu residents taking SMC classes is almost half the amount of students who will be attending classes at the Malibu campus, Girard said he does not expect there to be people coming up from Santa Monica to take classes in Malibu.
“We would expect to see a larger number of people from Malibu taking classes there [than are taking classes at SMC now],” Girard said. “It’s not a program that would be marketed to out-of-region students. It’s a program that would meet region needs, which includes Malibu and into the hills and up.”
In November, the college’s Board of Trustees will vote on whether to close escrow on the property. If approved, it would become SMC-owned land in January, college President Chui L. Tsang said in an interview this week. Money generated from Measure S, the $135 million bond approved by SMC district voters two years ago, would be used to make the purchase. Prior to the approval of Measure S, SMC officials signed an agreement with the city that $25 million of the bond money would be used for Malibu projects. A committee consisting of officials from both entities was created to oversee the money dedicated to Malibu. That committee is expected to meet sometime next month, or in October. According to city and college officials, it has not been determined whether the land purchase requires approval from the committee.
SMC already used $2.5 million of Measure S money to help the city with its purchase of the Chili Cook-Off site earlier this year. If $8 million is used to buy the Yamaguchi property, the remaining money will be spent on building the Malibu campus. By the agreement, the facility can be no larger than 25,000 square feet.
The Yamaguchi property is zoned for commercial use by the Malibu Local Coastal Program. Educational facilities are not allowed to be built there, so an LCP amendment would need to be approved by the city and the California Coastal Commission to change the zoning. Malibu Planning Director C.J. Amstrup said this week that the Planning Commission would review a proposed amendment next month to make a recommendation for the City Council. The council will then vote on the amendment shortly after that, with the proposal eventually being forwarded to the Coastal Commission for the final decision.
SMC President Tsang said this week that the Malibu campus would offer many of the courses that exist at the Santa Monica campuses. But he said some classes, such as physical education and sciences labs, would not be offered in Malibu. A student would not be able to take all the classes required for a two-year degree without having to take some courses in Santa Monica, Tsang said. Also, Tsang said, the Malibu campus would offer “courses of interest for those who are not seeking a degree, but looking for self-improvement.”
Girard said prior to the building of a facility, a study would be done to determine what kind of classes Malibu residents are interested in having in their city.
Mayor Ken Kearsley said last week that he “welcomed” SMC to come to Malibu. And he said this week that he was not concerned the campus would attract many people from outside the city.
“Why would they [non-residents] come here?” he asked rhetorically. “I hope they wouldn’t with gas at $3.50 a gallon. I don’t think so.”