Law School Building OK on Council’s List

Chapman University officials will go before the City Council tonight to seek final approval of site plans for a new law school on Glassell Street.

Residents will also be able to comment on the strategic plan, which calls for increasing the university’s size by 4 acres and eventually increasing full-time enrollment on campus to nearly 4,000 students.

Before construction begins for the law school, workers will raze all but the decorative facade on old Orange Unified School District buildings on the site. The facade, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is to be incorporated into the design of the new building.

The law school building is to include a three-level parking structure that will hold 800 cars.

University officials said they expect the law school to have 432 students when the new building opens on the Glassell site in the fall of 1998. At present, just over 200 students are studying law at Chapman’s Anaheim campus. The Orange campus has a total enrollment of about 3,000 students.

Council members today also will consider changes to the city’s neighborhood parking permit program.

The Police Department has proposed a system for residents to purchase permit stickers, color-coded and serialized numerically, every three years. A $3 fee would cover the cost of two resident permits and five visitor passes for each household for that period.

The council’s regular session will be at 4:30 p.m. today at City Hall, 300 E. Chapman Ave. The evening session, which will include the Chapman public hearing, will be at 7 p.m.