May Newsbites

***BAHA Annual Members’ Meeting***   The annual members’ meeting of BAHA is scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, 2023, in the auditorium of the Roscomare Road Elementary School.  The meeting will commence promptly at 7:00 pm, with check-in beginning at 6:30 pm.  As noted in the April Newsbites, our new Councilmember for District 5, Katy Yaroslavsky, is scheduled to speak at 7:00 pm.  Community nonmembers will have the option to join BAHA.  Membership forms will be available at the door.  Payment for annual dues may be made by either check or credit card.   Notices to members have gone out and include more details.

***American Jewish University***     The American Jewish University (AJU), located at 15600 Mulholland Drive, just outside of the Bel Air Park development entrance on Casiano Road, is selling its 35 acre campus to a Swiss educational company called Education First (EF).  EF plans to use the campus to house its International Language Center to provide English language proficiency to high school and college students from around the world.  AJU was built under a Conditional Use Permit that allowed up to 200 students to live on campus at any given time, with total enrollment, at any time, not to exceed 500 students.  Reportedly, EF would like to expand this number to 700.students living on campus year-round, and would shuttle additional off-campus students to the campus, perhaps as many as 200 during the regular school year, and possibly up to 500 additional students during the summer months.  That could mean a possible student population, at any one time, between 900-1200.  We understand that most schools in the Mulholland Educational Corridor have between 300-500 students, and none over 700.  The plan would be to decrease the existing parking spaces to allow for construction of additional facilities to handle the increased enrollment and housing.  The Bel Air Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council (BABCNC) reports that many residents of Bel Air Park, as well as residents in the greater community, have voiced concerns regarding the effect that EF’s plans to expand will have on the quality of life in the area, such as  security, traffic, parking and fire safety. 

BABCNC’s Planning and Land Use Committee will be holding another meeting on May 16, 2023, to specifically discuss residents’ concerns regarding the proposed EF plans for the AJU site.  Specifics of the meeting can be found on BABCNC’s website at https://www.babcnc.org/committees/viewCommittee/374.  Anyone wishing to support Bel Air Park, may contact them by email at  [email protected].   While BAHA is currently studying the situation, we wanted the community to be aware of the situation.