PLEASE READ...IMPORTANT UPDATE ON MSMU PROJECT

In May 2022, BHA filed suit against the City of LA and Mount Saint Mary’s University (MSMU), challenging the City Council’s approvals of the Wellness Pavilion. After six months of extensive negotiations, during which time the Court stayed the litigation, the BHA Board is close to signing a settlement agreement with MSMU. This agreement, which benefits the entire community, puts real and enforceable limits on MSMU for 20 years and ensures accountability and transparency of MSMU’s operations with

Limits on vehicle trips, events, enrollment, and expansion of the Chalon Campus
Strict compliance, enforcement and reporting of conditions that go above what the City required
Enforceable Neighborhood Protections
Improved Planning for Emergencies and Wildfire

Since MSMU’s Wellness Pavilion Project was announced in 2016, BHA has worked hard to enter into a settlement agreement with MSMU similar to those BHA has with Archer School and Brentwood School. Why? Because these agreements protect the community by applying conditions that go over and above the City’s conditions in mitigating impacts to the community. In the case of MSMU, the settlement agreement’s conditions would apply to the entire campus’s operations – not just the Wellness Pavilion – in the process putting the community in a better place than it would be without the Wellness Pavilion. In addition, a settlement agreement allows BHA to monitor and enforce the provisions of the Agreement as well as the City’s conditions which is crucial because of the City’s history of lack of enforcement.

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT PROVIDES THE BEST PROTECTION FOR THE COMMUNITY

On April 14 and 15, some of our members received emails circulated by unidentified persons implying that the State Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone Fire Safe Regulations would stop the development of MSMU’s Wellness Pavilion because it is located on land accessible by an existing road that has only one point of vehicular ingress/egress. What the email failed to state is that the State Fire Safe Regulations do not purport to stop all development in Bundy Canyon, and the City is allowed to exercise its discretion to grant exceptions to the standards they promulgate.

Additional emails asked for funds to file an “appeal of Mount Saint Mary’s permit” to build the Wellness Pavilion on behalf of an organization that did not file a lawsuit against the Project. The implication from these emails is that a donation to this fund will stop MSMU’s project and benefit the community (without identifying who is sending these emails and who will manage these funds). There is no evidence that this is the case.

CONTINUED LITIGATION THREATENS A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

All lawsuits have inherent risk and uncertainty, that is why BHA is continuing to work toward a practical resolution with MSMU that provides real results. While we believe our claims are valid in our lawsuit with MSMU, we believe the settlement agreement, which includes but is not limited to provisions substantially improving upon the fire safety mitigations imposed on the project by the City, offers the best protection for our community. A covenant with MSMU, producing real, enforceable protections is a win for the community.