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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Action Letter Approved with Conditions 120320December 3, 2020 ITEM NO.: 5 FILE NO.: Z-9543 NAME: Friendship Aspire Academy, Garland Campus – Conditional Use Permit LOCATION: 3523 West 24th Street DEVELOPER: John Greer, WER Architects, Inc. 901 3rd Street Little Rock, AR 72201 OWNER/AUTHORIZED AGENT: KLS, Leasing, Inc. P.O. Box 2030 Bentonville, AR 72712 SURVEYOR/ENGINEER: McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc. 7302 Kanis Road Little Rock, AR 72204 AREA: 0.73 acres NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 0 LF WARD: 1 PLANNING DISTRICT: 9 CENSUS TRACT: 12 CURRENT ZONING: R-3, Single-Family District VARIANCE/WAIVERS: None requested. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST/APPLICANT’S STATEMENT: The applicant is requesting the approval of a Conditional Use Permit to allow the development of a middle school campus for grades 4 and 5. The construction will consist of eight (8) classrooms and will serve 200 students. The development will also have one (1) administrative office and building service space. December 3, 2020 ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-9543 2 B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The proposed school site located east of Maple Street between West 24th and West 25th Streets is currently undeveloped. The property is located within a single-family neighborhood which contains a variety of housing types and sizes. Mixed uses are located south of the site along Asher Avenue. The Friendship Aspire Charter School (grades K through 3) is located directly to the west of the site. The development of this site is an extension this development. In staff’s opinion, the new school campus will be compatible with the surrounding uses. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: All owners of property located within 200 feet of the site and Stephens Area Faith, Midtown, Love, and Goodwill Neighborhood Associations were notified of public hearing. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: 1. Due to the proposed use of the property, the Master Street Plan specifies that West 24th Street for the frontage of this property must meet commercial street standards. Dedicate right-of-way to 30 feet from centerline. 2. Due to the proposed use of the property, the Master Street Plan specifies that West 25th Street for the frontage of this property must meet commercial street standards. Dedicate right-of-way to 30 feet from centerline. 3. With site development, provide design of street conforming to the Master Street Plan. Construct one-half street improvement to West 24th Street including 5-foot sidewalks with planned development. The new curb should connect with the existing curb to the west and maintain the same street width. 4. Repair or replace any curb, gutter, sidewalk and access ramps that are damaged and not in compliance with ADA recommendations in the public right-of-way prior to occupancy. 5. Close existing curb cuts not proposed to be used with proposed development. 6. Sidewalks with appropriate handicap ramps are required to be constructed along 25th Street adjacent to the subject property in accordance with Sec. 31-175 of the Little Rock Code and the Master Street Plan. 7. Plans of all work in right-of-way shall be submitted for approval prior to start of work. Obtain barricade permit prior to doing any work in the right-of-way from Traffic Engineering at (501) 379-1805 (Travis Herbner). 8. A grading permit in accordance with section 29-186 (c) & (d) will be required prior to any land clearing or grading activities at the site. Other than residential December 3, 2020 ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-9543 3 subdivisions, site grading and drainage plans must be submitted and approved prior to the start of construction. 9. Provide a Sketch Grading and Drainage Plan per Sec. 29-186 (e). 10. Per Sec. 29-102 an evaluation should be conducted on the basis of existing downstream development and any analysis of stormwater runoff with and without the proposed development. If the proposed development will cause or increase downstream flooding conditions, provisions to minimize such flooding conditions should be included in the design of the storm management improvements. Such provisions may include downstream improvements and/or detention of stormwater runoff and its regulated discharge to the downstream storm drainage system capacity. 11. Street Improvement plans shall include signage and striping. Public Works must approve completed plans prior to construction. 12. A Traffic Study has been submitted and is under review. 13. Damage to public and private property due to hauling operations or operation of construction related equipment from a nearby construction site shall be repaired by the responsible party prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy. E. UTILITIES/FIRE DEPARTMENT/PARKS/COUNTY PLANNING: Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority: Sewer Available to this Site. FOG Analysis required if food prep on Site. Entergy: No comments received. CenterPoint Energy: No comments. AT & T: No comments received. Central Arkansas Water: No comments received. Fire Department: Fire Hydrants. Maintain fire apparatus access roads at fire hydrant locations as per Appendix D of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Vol. 1 Section D103.1 Access road width with a hydrant. Where a fire hydrant is located on a fire apparatus access road, the minimum road width shall be 26 feet, exclusive of shoulders. December 3, 2020 ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-9543 4 Grade Maintain fire apparatus access roads as per Appendix D of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Vol. 1 Section D103.2 Grade. Fire apparatus access roads shall not exceed 10 percent in grade except as approved by the fire chief. If the grade exceeds 10 percent, approval will be denied and the applicant must submit request to be reviewed by Fire Chief for Approval. Loading Maintain fire apparatus access road design as per Appendix D of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Vol. 1 Section D102.1 Access and loading. Facilities, buildings or portions of buildings hereafter constructed shall be accessible to fire department apparatus by way of an approved fire apparatus access road with an asphalt, concrete or other approved driving surface capable of supporting the imposed load of fire apparatus weighing at least 75,000 pounds. Dead Ends. Maintain fire apparatus access roads at dead end locations as per Appendix D of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Vol. 1 Section D103.4 Dead Ends. Dead-end fire apparatus access roads in excess of 150 feet shall be provided with width and turnaround provisions in accordance with Table D103.4. Requirements for Dead-end fire apparatus access roads. Fire Hydrants Locate Fire Hydrants as per Appendix C of the 2012 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code. Section C101 – C105, in conjunction with Central Arkansas Water (Daniel Tull 501-377-1245) and the Little Rock Fire Marshal’s Office (Capt. Tony Rhodes 501-918-3757 or Capt. John Hogue 501-918-3754). Number and Distribution of Fire Hydrants as per Table C105.1. Parks and Recreation: No comments received. County Planning: No comments received. F. BUILDING CODES/LANDSCAPE: Building Code: No Comments Received. Landscape: 1. Any new site development must comply with the City’s minimal landscape and buffer ordinance requirements. 2. A perimeter planting strip is required along any side of a vehicular use area that abuts adjoining property, or the right-of-way of any street. This strip shall be at December 3, 2020 ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-9543 5 least nine (9) feet wide. One (1) tree and three (3) shrubs or vines shall be planted for every thirty (30) linear feet of perimeter planting strip. 3. Screening requirements will need to be met for the vehicular use areas adjacent to street right-of-way. Provide screening shrubs with an average linear spacing of not less at three (3) feet within the required landscape area. Provide trees with an average linear spacing of not less than thirty (30) feet. 4. Eight percent (8%) of the vehicular use area must be designated for green space; this green space needs to be evenly distributed throughout the parking area(s). The minimum size of an interior landscape area shall be one hundred fifty (150) square feet for developments with one hundred fifty (150) or fewer parking spaces. Interior islands must be a minimum of seven and one half (7 1/2) feet in width. Trees shall be included in the interior landscape areas at the rate of one (1) tree for every twelve (12) parking spaces. 5. Landscape areas shall be provided between the vehicular use area used for public parking and the general vicinity of the building, excluding truck loading or service areas not opened to public parking. These shall be provided at the rate equivalent to planter strip three (3) feet wide along the vehicular use area. One (1) tree and four (4) shrubs shall be planted in the building landscape areas for each forty (40) linear feet of vehicular use area abutting the building. Landscape areas will need to be added for the commercial building. 6. An automatic irrigation system to water landscaped areas shall be required for developments of one (1) acre or larger. 7. The City Beautiful Commission recommends preserving as many existing trees as feasible on this site. Credit toward fulfilling Landscape Ordinance requirements can be given when preserving trees of six (6) inch caliper or larger. G. TRANSPORTATION/PLANNING: Rock Region Metro: No comments. H. ANALYSIS: Friendship Aspire Academy proposes to develop a middle school campus on this subject property located to the east of Maple Street between West 24th and West 25th Streets; two (2) blocks north of Asher Avenue. The proposed middle school campus will be an extension of the Friendship Aspire Academy Garland campus located immediately to the west. The project narrative from the applicant is as follows: December 3, 2020 ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-9543 6 alo “The new Friendship Aspire Academy Middle school, which currently has a K-3rd grade elementary school at 3615 West 25th Street, will serve 4th-5th graders. The site is approximately 0.73 acres at West 24th Street, to the east of the existing Friendship Elementary School. The site is bordered by West 24th Street to the north and West 25th Street to the south and can be accessed from West 24th Street. Current zoning of the property is R-3. We are seeking CUP approval for the site to allow for the proposed school building. The proposed improvements are as follow: 1. Construction of a single story 8,740 sf middle school for 4th - 5th grades with associated parking. The project will consist of 8 classrooms and will serve 200 students. 2. There will be 8 classrooms, 1 admin office, building service space and associated parking. 3. An interior drive will be extended from the existing east parking lot and connect back to 24th Street. The drive will serve as drop off and pickup of students for both parents & busses. The drive will also include new parking spaces as required. 4. The site will meet the current Landscape Ordinance requirements. 5. An existing fence at the current school will be extended around the new site and a new security gate will be installed at the new drive off West 24th Street. 6. Existing dumpster and loading services for the existing school will be utilized for the new facility. Exterior ground mounted mechanical equipment will be screened per requirements. 7. Existing water mains and sewer lines as well as their easements from the previous subdivision will be abandoned and new utilities will be brought to the building. 8. A draft traffic study has been submitted for preliminary review. 9. The planned opening date is August of 2021.” December 3, 2020 ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-9543 7 The proposed school building will be brick veneer with aluminum storefront windows measuring 6’ by 6’-4” tall. The building height will not exceed 20 feet. The proposed building will be located at the southeast corner of the site within the required setbacks. Access to the site will be from West 24th Street. The traffic will remain east bound only. Access drives and parking will extend along the north and west sides of the proposed school building. The site will contain 18 paved parking spaces. An interior drive will be extended from the existing west parking lot and connect back to West 24th Street. The drive will serve as drop off and pickup of students for both parents and buses. There will be no new or additional ground-mounted signage. The signage at the existing drive entry to the west will serve the new building. New ten (10) inch extruded aluminum letters reading ‘Friendship Aspire Academy” will be located on the north face of the building above the main entrance. There will not be a dumpster located for this building. The building will make use of existing screened dumpster facilities at the adjacent school building. The applicant notes that all site lighting will be low-level and directed onto the site and away from adjacent residential property. The applicant provided the following information with respect to an existing sewer easement located at the northeast corner of the site: “After further review of the site survey, it was found that there is an existing sewer easement on the site that would interfere with the proposed building footprint. Onsite investigation as well as a conversation with Vince Hotho at Little Rock Water Reclamation revealed there is no sewer piping present in this current easement. Further site investigations and research from OneCall revealed there were no other utilities present in this easement either. The applicant will submit a formal easement abandonment request to the city for this easement.” The sewer easement abandonment request will be submitted to the Board of Directors for approval after the Planning Commission’s action on this conditional use permit application. The applicant provided responses and additional information to all issues raised during staff’s review of the application. To staff’s knowledge there December 3, 2020 ITEM NO.: 5 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-9543 8 are no outstanding issues. The applicant is requesting no variances with the proposed conditional use permit. Staff is supportive of the requested conditional use permit to allow development of the property as a middle school campus, an extension of the Garland School campus. Staff views the request was reasonable. The proposed school development should prove to be a quality development within this R-3 zoned area north of Asher Avenue. Staff believes the new middle school building and school expansion will be compatible with the neighborhood and have no adverse impact on the area. The applicant has submitted a traffic study for the proposed development which is currently being reviewed by the City’s Traffic Engineering Division. Any comments/conditions added as a result of Traffic Engineering’s review will be presented and added to staff’s recommendation at the public hearing. I. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the requested conditional use permit and associated easement abandonment, subject to compliance with the comments and conditions outlined in paragraphs D, E and F, and the staff analysis, in the agenda staff report. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (DECEMBER 3, 2020) The applicant was present. There were no persons present registered in support or opposition. Staff presented the item and a recommendation of approval as outlined in the “staff recommendation” above. There was no further discussion. The item was placed on the Consent Agenda and approved as recommended by staff. The vote was 10 ayes, 0 nays and 1 absent. The application was approved.