Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Council votes to settle with Academy of Our Lady of Peace

Normal Heights school wins fight with city

Four years ago, when the Academy of Our Lady of Peace began planning to add classrooms and parking to its Normal Heights canyon-top campus, the high school found itself fighting the city and its neighbors over how to use land it already owned.

On April 23, the city council voted to pay the school a settlement of $500,000 — less than half the amount awarded by a federal court jury in October 2012 after the jury found the city's development permitting process was restrictive and interfered with the all-girls school's freedom of religious expression. (Council president Todd Gloria and District 1 council member Sherri Lightner voted no.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

"To finally have the entitlements to proceed with our modernization project is a bright and positive light at the end of, what for us, was a long tunnel," said academy CFO Dasan Mahadevan. "We look forward to working with the city on much needed pieces of school infrastructure."

The school was founded in 1882 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet on the bluffs above Mission Valley east of Texas Street. Starting in 2006, academy officials and planners spent four years trying to build a classroom building on the west side of the campus and add parking on the east side. Plans called for the demolition of three residences deemed historic.

The school ran into opposition from a neighborhood group called Between the Heights, and worked to answer their concerns. For example, the academy added parking to keep cars off the street and then reduced parking when neighbors objected to the size of the parking structure. After a number of design changes to the original plan, the city denied the academy's permits.

In 2009, the academy sued in federal court, arguing that the city had denied the academy and its students the right to religious education and had held the academy to a more restrictive standard than nonreligious institutions. The jury agreed, awarding more than $1.1 million in October 2012. The judge ruled that the city would relocate two of the historic buildings.

The city and the academy continued to fight after the verdict, with the academy asking for attorney fees and the city threatening to appeal the verdict. After four months of wrangling, the city and academy reached a settlement at the beginning of March, according to court records.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village

Four years ago, when the Academy of Our Lady of Peace began planning to add classrooms and parking to its Normal Heights canyon-top campus, the high school found itself fighting the city and its neighbors over how to use land it already owned.

On April 23, the city council voted to pay the school a settlement of $500,000 — less than half the amount awarded by a federal court jury in October 2012 after the jury found the city's development permitting process was restrictive and interfered with the all-girls school's freedom of religious expression. (Council president Todd Gloria and District 1 council member Sherri Lightner voted no.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

"To finally have the entitlements to proceed with our modernization project is a bright and positive light at the end of, what for us, was a long tunnel," said academy CFO Dasan Mahadevan. "We look forward to working with the city on much needed pieces of school infrastructure."

The school was founded in 1882 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet on the bluffs above Mission Valley east of Texas Street. Starting in 2006, academy officials and planners spent four years trying to build a classroom building on the west side of the campus and add parking on the east side. Plans called for the demolition of three residences deemed historic.

The school ran into opposition from a neighborhood group called Between the Heights, and worked to answer their concerns. For example, the academy added parking to keep cars off the street and then reduced parking when neighbors objected to the size of the parking structure. After a number of design changes to the original plan, the city denied the academy's permits.

In 2009, the academy sued in federal court, arguing that the city had denied the academy and its students the right to religious education and had held the academy to a more restrictive standard than nonreligious institutions. The jury agreed, awarding more than $1.1 million in October 2012. The judge ruled that the city would relocate two of the historic buildings.

The city and the academy continued to fight after the verdict, with the academy asking for attorney fees and the city threatening to appeal the verdict. After four months of wrangling, the city and academy reached a settlement at the beginning of March, according to court records.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?
Next Article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader