The 49-year-old Anoakia School, facing a June deadline for relocation, has opted for local print advertising. Owner Lowry McCaslin apparently wants to develop the property at Foothill Blvd. and Baldwin Ave. However, the school also has numerous city fire code violations and a building that is not up to seismic standards. The school currently has 279 students from K-8th grade.
An informal committee of some 15 people was initiated by the Arcadia Historical Society in mid-September in an effort to preserve the old Anoakia School site, now that the school has relocated to Duarte.
Anoakia School plans to relocate to another city. The Fire Department has cited the school with many violations in the past year. Last month the Department closed a group of 10 classrooms for being unsafe.
The Anoakia School, soon to be renamed the Anita Oaks School, won a victory against staunch opponents of the relocation when the Duarte City Council unanimously approved the move to property owned by New Life Assembly of God Church.
Arcadia Fire Chief Gerald Gardner says his department will recommend Anoakia School not be allowed to reopen this fall if safety deficiencies are not fixed. School owner Lowry McCaslin vows that everything will be taken care of.
Arcadia Planning Commission has approved a zone change for the Anoakia property from R-O 30,000 to R-O and D 22,000. The zone change will allow owner Lowrey McCaslin to develop the 19.13 acre site with 29 to 32 homes instead of 23.
At a meeting of about 200 Anoakia School parents, directors of the school, which has operated on the former estate of Anita Baldwin for 48 years, explained the reasons the school wants to relocate after June 1990. Lowry McCaslin, who owns the property, wants to develop the 20 acre estate.
At a public hearing before the Planning Commission on August 23, 1976, planners voted 5 to 1 to retain the present density designation of 0-2 dwelling units per acre.
Battle lines seem to be drawn between the residents of the area, who want 0-2 dwelling units per acre as the general plan calls for, and owner Lowery McCaslin, who would like 0-4.
The City Council voted on March 1, 1977 to uphold the 30,000 square foot minimum lot size set by the Planning Commission on any development Mr. McCaslin might build. Room for compromise seems possible.
The hearing by the Planning Commission on the Anoakia property has been put off until a later date. Some specifics of what Mr. McCaslin will seek when the hearing is scheduled are given.
Lowery McCaslin, owner of Anoakia, has asked that his application for a general plan change for the property be withdrawn. He has been working with a local builder who has a good feel for the area and would like to develop the property at a density of 2.4 homes per acre. Late in this same meeting, the council voted to change the zoning on the estate to match the existing general plan. What this might do to future McCaslin plans is not clear.
Mr. McCaslin received a blow to his plan to subdivide the 20 acre parcel when the Planning Commission changed the zoning in the area from R-1 (7,500 square feet per unit) to R-O (30,000 square feet per unit).