The expansion will include an increase in athletic event seating by almost 2,000 seats, and on-campus housing for students will increase by almost 500 beds.
By Trevor A. Ditzler / Special to The Malibu Times
The Regional Planning Department of Los Angeles County has released a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the proposed expansion development at Pepperdine University’s Seaver Campus in Malibu. The release of the report marks the official start of a 60-day public review and comment period. The DEIR evaluates the potential environmental impact of the university’s proposed “Campus Life Project” on the surrounding community and environment.
Though the Campus Life Project does not include an expansion in acreage of the Pepperdine Malibu campus or an increase in enrollment, the project would ultimately create additional on-campus housing for 468 students, increase on-campus parking by 796 spaces and add 48 full time employees to the university payroll. Additionally, the capacity of the new athletics and events center being constructed would enable the university to support a Division I Athletics Program through increasing the total number of seats available from 3,574 to 5,470.
Rhiannon Bailard, assistant vice president of Governmental and Regulatory Affairs and director of the Center for Sustainability at Pepperdine, said the project is potentially coming to fruition after more than 20 years of preparation and long-term planning.
“The project is aimed at modernizing existing facilities on a 40-year-old campus to respond to the needs of our students by providing residential, recreational and athletic upgrades through responsible design that is respectful of our neighbors and the environment,” Bailard said.
The president of the local homeowners association expressed concern regarding the increase in event seating for the athletics program.
“We are very good neighbors with Pepperdine University, but our major concern, very serious concern, is the sports arena, with over 5,000 seating capacity that would create and contribute to traffic and noise, [which] will, in turn, interfere with the lifestyle and investment of the Malibu Country Estate homeowners,” said Hiro Kotchounian, president of the estate’s homeowners association.
Kotchounian said he has received the 600-plus page DEIR, and has not read it yet but plans to do so soon. He had no further comment on the issue.
Although the city has no say on the project because it is outside city limits, city Planning Division Manager Joyce Parker-Bozylinski said the Planning Commission and Public Works staff will be reviewing and providing comment on the DEIR.
She also said the city has invited Pepperdine University to make a presentation on the project to the council at its Dec. 13 meeting.
“At that time, we’re hoping to get feedback from council and public regarding concerns,” Parker-Bozylinski said.
The project must be reviewed and receive approval from the County of Los Angeles regional planning department, the county’s Board of Supervisors, and ultimately from the California Coastal Commission.
The issues addressed by the DEIR focus primarily on the impact to the community that might be affected by the project, including the adjacent Malibu Country Estates subdivision, residents of Malibu Canyon Road and the City of Malibu generally due to traffic. The effect of the project on traffic in the area is highlighted in the report, and Pepperdine University officials say they have taken multiple steps to not dramatically increase traffic in the region as the university is in close proximity to the Pacific Coast Highway.
“This project will reduce local peak hour traffic,” Bailard said. “The DEIR contains an extensive traffic analysis, which studied critical intersections and future growth models. Because the Campus Life Project adds 468 new student beds without increasing enrollment, there is a daily net traffic benefit that reduces congestion in the local community by transitioning commuter students into residential students.”
Bailard said the university is working to reduce any impacts on traffic with the increase of seating for events.
Wastewater will also increase as result of the planned construction process, but Bailard said the DEIR shows that the university has sufficient capacity process any extra wastewater produced by the project expansion with its existing infrastructure.
“Following implementation of the project, Pepperdine will continue to receive reclaimed water from both Malibu Mesa [Water Reclamation Facility] and the Tapia [Wastewater Reclamation Facility], which currently accounts for 99 percent of all campus irrigation,” Bailard said.
The project will also include enhanced recreational areas, an upgraded NCAA soccer field, the creation of Seaver Town Square, a parking structure for the law school and rehabilitation of other on-campus housing facilities.
Comments on the project are due to the County of Los Angeles by Jan. 10.
More information on the project can be obtained online at www.pepperdine.edu/campus-life-project and through the County of Los Angeles Regional Planning Department Website, http://planning.lacounty.gov/case/all, under Project No. R2007-03064.