Open Letter to Mike Bonin From Brentwood Homeowners Association Regarding Mount Saint Mary’s University ‘Wellness Pavilion’

Submitted by the Brentwood Homeowners Association 

Dear Mike Bonin, 

In view of the urgent need for you to provide input to the PLUM committee of City Council prior to its hearing scheduled for April 5, we call on you to adhere to your prior statements regarding the need to protect the Brentwood community from more traffic and wildfire risks to lives and property in our high fire severity zone. We are not opposed to a new gym that is limited to use by MSMU students. But the unusual location of the school requires the conditions and restrictions described below, none of which would diminish the education of the MSMU students. 

1. Enrollment 
The City Planning Commission Decision obfuscates the issue of an increase in student enrollment by stating that the Project does not include a request to increase enrollment. However, unless the City requires enrollment to be limited to current numbers, MSMU claims that it would be able to increase enrollment by approximately 40%. At our BHA annual meeting last year, you discussed the need for limits on MSMU enrollment and traffic. We are counting on you adhering to your statement: “their enrollment is 1500 and that’s where it’s going to stay.” The only way to make this happen is to include that 1500 cap as a Condition in the Plan Approval. We know of no school or university in the City existing in a residential zone by reason of a Conditional Use Permit that does not have an enrollment cap. 

2. Trip Cap 
At that BHA meeting last year, you recognized that fewer trips generated by MSMU were necessary to reduce the impact on the community, particularly in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Again, we are counting on you requiring an actual reduction of trips –not a reduction from MSMU’s original negotiating numbers or an outdated number from 2016 merely because that is when the environmental review process started. 

In a meeting in your Office, as part of an agreement with BHA, MSMU was willing to cap am-pm peak hour vehicle trips at 490 and cap daily average vehicle trips at 1,813. Since those were already the actual numbers in 2018, any higher number would actually be an increase in trips. And that is why BHA believes the daily average trip cap should be 1,600, which is only an 11% reduction, but in no event greater than a daily average trip cap of 1813. 

3. Construction Time
In 2015, in connection with Archer School for Girls, you said: “In order to ensure that 3 years of construction, in fact, means 3 years, I request the following: Construction of the entire project authorized by this grant shall not exceed a maximum of 3 years as measured from the date construction starts to the date construction stops.” MSMU says that its Project will take 20 months – the Plan Approval should include a Condition that construction of the entire Project shall not exceed 20 months. 

4. Summer Camp
MSMU (and you) states that its request is solely for a new gym for MSMU students. There is no justification, apart from an unlawful desire to commercialize the campus, to allow, in addition to a new gym for MSMU students, a new 12-week summer camp program that has no connection whatsoever with the school’s students or curriculum, and would be permitted to generate 236 vehicle trips per day. The proposed summer camp program or any other new programming in the summer months should be removed from the Plan Approval. 

5. Outside Guests
The purpose of the MSMU Project is a new gym for its students. There is no justification for any new special event that could be attended by outside visitors. Adding such events and the associated vehicle trips unduly burdens the surrounding residential neighbors with more traffic and increases the fire/evacuation safety risks in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The creative names for these events (“Health and Wellness Speaker Series”, “Club Sports”, “Other Wellness/Sports Activities”) does not change the fact that they have the potential to be attended only by outside guests who would be permitted to generate 310 outside guest vehicle trips per day. 

In 2015, you described Archer School as a great school that provides a transformative experience for many young women. But you added that “its stellar reputation does not erase the considerations created by the complicated location of its campus.” Archer School sits on Sunset Blvd, which you described as “one of the worst traffic choke points in the City.” All MSMU traffic starts and exits the hillsides on the same stretch of Sunset Blvd. But MSMU’s location is much more “complicated” by its location with only one means of ingress and egress over 2 miles north of Sunset Blvd. on winding narrow roads through a residential neighborhood in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. All new outside events that could generate vehicle trips by persons who are not students, faculty and staff of MSMU should be removed from the Plan Approval. 

We are counting on you to do the right thing and protect your constituents, which can be done without diminishing the ability of MSMU’s deserving students to enjoy new athletic facilities.

Related Posts

Man Arrested in Brentwood for Impersonating Firefighter During Palisades Fire

July 18, 2025

July 18, 2025

The suspect faces at least 28 criminal counts—including 23 felonies—spanning incidents from 2023 to May 2025 Federal and local law...

West Coast Premiere of ‘The Opposite of Love’ Opens at Hudson Backstage Theatre

July 18, 2025

July 18, 2025

Produced by Neil Gooding Productions, behind shows like Back to the Future: The Musical, the play runs Thursdays through Saturdays at...

Study Highlights Economic Impact of Cap-and-Trade Extension in Los Angeles

July 18, 2025

July 18, 2025

Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders are pushing to reauthorize the program this year, citing its role in generating 287,000...

Controversial Rebuilding Authority Delayed by Sen. Allen

July 17, 2025

July 17, 2025

The pause follows concerns raised weeks ago when the proposal sought to create an agency run by political appointees to...

Mayor Bass Hails National Guard Withdrawal as Victory for Unity

July 17, 2025

July 17, 2025

The Pentagon’s decision to reduce the troop presence follows weeks of legal challenges and public demonstrations Mayor Karen Bass celebrated...

DUI Checkpoints to be Conducted Across LA This Weekend

July 16, 2025

July 16, 2025

The LAPD selects checkpoint sites based on data indicating high incidents of impaired driving-related crashes and arrests The Los Angeles...

Fire Survivors Urged to Shape Rebuilding Efforts with Digital Feedback Platform

July 16, 2025

July 16, 2025

The initiative, launched in February, marks California’s first large-scale use of a dedicated digital tool to gather wildfire survivor feedback...

(Video) Italian Eatery Finds New West LA Home after Wildfire Displacement

July 16, 2025

July 16, 2025

Cinque Terra, a longstanding Palisadian establishment, has brought its Northern Italian cuisine to Rose Avenue Italian Eatery Finds New West...

Dodgers to Host Back to School Bash for Fire-Affected Families

July 16, 2025

July 16, 2025

The free event will offer free groceries, school supplies, outfits, haircuts, medical screenings, and carnival rides The Los Angeles Dodgers...

Hundreds of Red-Legged Frog Tadpoles Released in Santa Monica Mountains

July 16, 2025

July 16, 2025

Once widespread in California, red-legged frogs vanished from the Santa Monica Mountains by the 1970s Nearly 600 California red-legged frog...

LA Sees Second Straight Year of Homelessness Decline, Leaders Celebrate Progress

July 16, 2025

July 16, 2025

The survey, designed by the University of Southern California, reported a 17.5% drop—the largest two-year decrease on record The Los...

County Launches AI Pilot to Speed Rebuilding After Fires

July 15, 2025

July 15, 2025

The pilot targets early adopters whose homes, located in R-1 residential zones, were damaged by the wildfires Los Angeles County...

Santa Monica Man Arrested for Allegedly Exporting Electronics to Iran

July 15, 2025

July 15, 2025

Ostovari, identified as the CEO of a Tehran-based engineering firm, allegedly orchestrated the scheme since 2018  A 66-year-old Santa Monica...

California Hits Two-Thirds Clean Energy Milestone

July 15, 2025

July 15, 2025

This year, clean energy has powered the state for an average of seven hours daily, with over 90% of days...

ICE Raids Disrupt Labor in Fire Recovery Efforts: REPORT

July 14, 2025

July 14, 2025

Immigrants, comprising about 75% of Los Angeles County’s construction workforce with nearly half undocumented, per a Bay Area Council analysis,...