Ruling Does Little to Ease Dispute Over Preschool

Like a modern-day Solomon, a Pasadena zoning officer decided Wednesday night to split the difference to try to settle a heated dispute over whether to let a renowned nursery school increase its enrollment from 65 to 80.

There was standing room only in Pasadena’s council chamber as more than 120 people attended the three-hour zoning hearing, where boosters painted the Aria Montessori School as the picture of tranquillity, while neighbors said its recesses are noisy and its cavalcades of child-loading traffic are anarchy.

In a dispute so inflamed that officials say one neighbor threaten to shoot a city planner assigned to the case, neither side came away happy with Zoning Hearing Officer Paul Beard’s decision to issue a permit allowing the 83-year-old preschool to enroll 72 students in September.

“He split the baby down the middle. I don’t think he did anyone any good,” said JoAnn Aria, the school’s owner, who admits operating with more than the 65 students the city permits. “We have 71 children now but we need 80 to stay in business.”

Neighbors, who forced the school to ask for the enrollment increase after they discovered it had 15 preschoolers too many, were disappointed. “It doesn’t appear the neighborhoods are getting a good shake from the city,” said Jeff Ellis, president of the Madison Heights Neighborhood Assn. “It’s kind of a shame.” . . .