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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-3689-K Staff AnalysisFILE NO.: Z NAME: LISA Academy Zoning Site Plan Review LOCATION- Located at 21 & 23 Corporate Hill DEVELOPER: LISA Academy 21 Corporate Hill Drive Little Rock, AR SURVEYOR: Brooks Surveying 20820 Arch Street Pike Hensley, AR 72065 AREA: 2.30 acres CURRENT ZONING: PLANNING DISTRICT: CENSUS TRACT: NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 0 LF 0-2, Office and Institutional 2 — Rodney Parham 22.05 VARIANCESNVAIVERS REQUESTED: None requested. BACKGROUND: On June 22, 2006, the Little Rock Planning Commission approved a Zoning Site Plan review request to allow the placement of a modular building on the site located to the east to serve as additional classroom space for LISA Academy. At the time of approval the anticipated school enrollment for the 2006 — 2007 school year was 375 students. With the approval staff presented a recommendation the modular building be removed by July 19, 2009, to coincide with the required removal of portable classrooms per Section 36-203(g). The portable classroom building was not removed. Section 36-203(g) was subsequently amended to allow portable classroom buildings through July 19, 2014. FILE NO.: Z -3689-K (Cont On January 27, 2011, the Little Rock Planning Commission approved a Zoning Site Plan Review for this site to allow LISA Academy to expand with construction of a new building located on a lot immediately west of the existing school campus. The school was proposed to house 20 classrooms, a computer lab and a science lab. The building was proposed containing 36,215 square feet. The maximum building height approved was 40 -feet. The existing school would remain. The portable classroom building located on the current school campus site would be removed. The school had 473 students in Grades 6 — 12. The school indicated there would be a maximum enrollment of 600 students., There are 41 -faculty members serving the school. With the addition of students a maximum of 46 -faculty persons were proposed. The school indicated their hours of operation were from 7:50 am to 3:00 pm daily. An existing access easement located on the adjacent lot to the west would serve as ingress and egress to the new building. The pick-up and drop-off would occur in the rear of the building for the high school students. Pick-up and drop-off for the middle school students would take place on the front of the site. On March 10, 2011, the Little Rock Planning Commission approved a request to allow an increase the height for the previously approved building. The approval allowed the building height to be increased from 45 -feet to 70 -feet in height. The building was proposed with three levels above a finished basement. The building has been constructed and is being used by LISA Academy. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST/APPLICANT'S STATEMENT: The Zoning Site Plan Review approved on January 27, 2011, allowed the use of the site as a school with a maximum enrollment of 600 students. The maximum number of students was based on a traffic study prepared by Peters and Associates outlining traffic flows and drop-off and pick-up schedules and locations to minimize the impact of the school traffic on the abutting City streets. On April 9, 1012, the Arkansas State Board of Education allowed an increase in the cap of students from 600 to 800. Starting with the fall schedule the school increased the number of students from 600 to 800 without seeking approval from the Commission for a revision to the previously approved application. The request before the Commission is a review of the revised traffic study and analysis to determine the impact of the additional students on the area. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS.- The ONDITIONS: The site is developed with two (2) buildings housing LISA Academy. This area is an office park development. South of the site is floodway Rock Creek. The Corporate Hill Subdivision has developed with office users with the buildings developed with shared access easements and shared parking lots. Most of the buildings in the area appear to be'occupied but a few are vacant. 2 FILE NO.: Z -3689-K (Cont.) C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: As of this writing, staff has received a few informational phone calls from area residents and businesses. All property owners located within 200 -feet of the site and the Treasure Hill Neighborhood Association were notified of the public hearing. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS: 1. Provide traffic study to staff for review. E. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (November 15, 2012) The applicant was present. Staff presented an overview of the request stating the review was to add additional students to the allowed enrollment of the school. Staff stated the previous approval limited the number of students to 600 students. Staff stated the current request was to allow 800 students. Staff stated the review was based on a traffic study which was being prepared by their traffic engineer. Staff stated the City's Traffic Engineer would review the findings and provide an analysis and recommendation. Representatives from the school stated modifications from the study were being implemented. Ms. Luanne Baroni stated with the implementation of the suggestions by the traffic engineer traffic was flowing at a better pace and there was little to no stacking onto the abutting City streets. Staff stated they would make a site visit to review the progress of the changes. There was no further discussion of the item. The Committee then forwarded the item to the full Commission for final action. F. ANALYSIS/TRAFFIC IMPACT ANALYSIS: LISA Academy has contacted with Peters and Associates Engineers to prepare an updated traffic study for the school. The original traffic study was dated January 10, 2011, and was prepared based on a proposed expansion in the enrollment of the school. The school expected an increase in the number of students from 473 to 600 students. The site plan included an additional point of access via Executive Court for entering site traffic and drives for on-site queuing of vehicles during AM drop-off and PM pick-up periods. Once the 2011 school expansion was completed, vehicle traffic operations associated with the increase in enrollment was found to be adequate. Since that time the student enrollment has been increased to 800 students. The updated traffic study report includes the existing and proposed re -distributed traffic operational analysis accommodating traffic occurring in relation to the expanded student enrollment. 3 FILE NO.: Z -3689-K Cont. There has been no change to the school buildings, driveways, parking or school access points. The current enrollment is 790 students in grades 6 thru 12. Entering school -generated vehicles currently access the site via Executive Court and via Corporate Hill Drive. All exiting school -generated vehicles currently egress the site via Corporate Hill Drive. The original traffic study for LISA Academy was based on a maximum enrollment of 600 students. However, the enrollment was authorized by the Arkansas State Board of Education to be increased to a maximum of 800 students. Current enrollment is approximately 790 students in grades 6 thru 12. This increase in enrollment has created traffic operational issues during the school PM peak hour. On-site observations by Peters and Associates indicate there did not appear to be any adjustment in traffic operations based on the new enrollment. The primary focus of the updated traffic report was to assess existing traffic operations and make recommendations to adequately serve access to the site to minimize queuing on the adjacent streets that currently serve the site; Corporate Hill Drive and Executive Court. The Fall 2012 semester enrollment is 219 students in 6th grade and 186 students in 7th grade for a total middle school enrollment of 405 students. The high school enrollment is 385 students with 147 students in 8th grade and 238 students in 9th thru 12th grades. 6th and 7th grades are located in the middle school building and grades 8 thru 12th are located in the high school building. All entering school generated vehicles access the site via Executive Court and via Corporate Hill Drive. All exiting school generated vehicles egress the site via Corporate Hill Drive. Before the recommended operational adjustments were implemented vehicles picking -up 7th and 8th grades were requested to access the site via Corporate Hill Drive. All others were requested to access the site via Executive Court. Wednesday school dismissal PM peak hour is the worst-case condition because it is the only day of the week that there are no after school programs. Therefore, this is the day of the week that was observed as a part of the study. Vehicle traffic counts were made during the school dismissal PM peak hour. School dismissal PM peak hour is from 2:45 to 3:45 PM with the majority of traffic occurring between 2:45 and 3:15 PM. The existing school dismissal PM peak hour site -generated traffic counts at LISA Academy before the recommended operational adjustment were made entering and exiting traffic volumes were the Executive Court access 141 entering and the Corporate Hill Drive access 187 entering and 348 exiting. Because of the traffic operational issues associated with the vehicles queuing on Corporate Hill Drive, evaluations of school access during the school dismissal PM peak hour were made and recommendations were discussed with 4 FILE NO.: Z -3689-K (Cont. representatives from the City of Little Rock Traffic Engineering Division. The following are recommended operational adjustments resulting from the study: It is recommended that student pick-up during school dismissal PM peak hour be via Executive Court for the middle school and via Corporate Hill for the high school. Exception to this pattern could be permitted for special needs pick-up and drop-off and for teachers and staff accessing existing parking areas, which could access via Corporate Hill Drive or Executive Court. It is recommended that all departing vehicles continue to utilize Corporate Hill Drive. It is recommended that the middle school dismissal time be changed to a minimum of four minutes earlier on Wednesday during the school dismissal PM peak hours. This would allow 19 minutes between middle school and high school dismissal times thereby allowing enough time for the majority of the middle school vehicles to exit the area before the majority of the vehicles associated with the high school finish arriving. With the 19 minute separation in dismissal times, the approximate 1,700 linear feet of vehicle storage within the school access drive connection from Executive Court is able to accommodate almost all of the vehicles during the school dismissal PM peak hours. Furthermore, the queued vehicles on Corporate Hill Drive were observed to be reduced from approximately 2,200 linear feet to an acceptable distance of 1,800 linear feet or.less during the worst-case Wednesday dismissal PM peak hours without interfering with the intersection operation at West Markham Street and Corporate Hill Drive. To assure safe and orderly pick-up and discharge of students within the site, it is recommended that operations facilitators continue to work the pick-up and drop-off areas to direct and assist parents with student movements to/from vehicles to/from designated school access doors and to assist with orderly boarding and departure of vehicles. After adjustments were made the school dismissal PM peak hour site -generated entering and exiting traffic volumes are the Executive Court access entering 156 and the Corporate Hill Drive access entering 147 and exiting 328. PM peak hour for the Executive Court access was 2:35 — 3:35 PM with the majority of traffic occurring between 2:35 and 3:10 PM. PM peak hour for the Corporate Hill Drive access was 2:45 — 3:45 PM with the majority of traffic occurring between 3:00 and 3:25 PM. The implemented operational adjustments during the school dismissal PM peak hour have been implemented by LISA Academy. Vehicle counts and queuing observations associated with LISA Academy during the school PM peak hour were made Wednesday;: November 7, 2012, after the implemented operational adjustments were made. It was observed that the queuing along Corporate Hill Drive was reduced to an acceptable distance without effecting traffic on West FILE NO.: Z -3689-K Markham Street. It was also observed that vehicles queued for only a short time (five minutes) beyond the cul-de-sac on Executive Court. Traffic operations were also observed on a non -Wednesday weekday and it was observed that vehicles did not queue beyond the cul-de-sac on Executive Court nor beyond the curve to the northeast of the campus on Corporate Hill Drive. Staff made a site visit on Wednesday November 28, 2012, to view the modifications and the flow of traffic on and around the site. On Executive Court there were 14 vehicles stacked beyond the applicant's property. On Corporate Hill Drive there were cars stacked on both sides of the street limiting the travel lane to one. Staff does not feel the modifications implemented are satisfactory. The applicant's traffic engineer has indicated they will continue to work with LISA Academy and provide additional. modifications to the traffic and stacking to limit the impact on the abutting City streets. G. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends denial of the current application request. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (DECEMBER 13, 2012) The applicant was present. There were registered objectors present. Staff presented the item with a recommendation of deferral. Staff stated the applicant had submitted a request dated December 12, 2012, requesting deferral of the item to the January 24, 2013, public hearing. Staff stated the deferral request would require a waiver of the Commission's By-laws with regard to the late deferral request. Staff stated they were supportive of the deferral request. There was no further discussion of the item. The Chair entertained a motion for approval of the By-law waiver request. The motion carried by a vote of 8 ayes, 0 noes and 3 absent. The Chair entertained a motion for approval of the item as presented by staff on the Consent Agenda., The motion carried by a vote of 8 ayes, 0 noes and 3 absent. STAFF UPDATE: The applicant and their traffic engineer have been working on solutions to the traffic concerns in the area. There is not been adequate time for staff to observe the changes implemented by the applicant. Staff recommends deferral of this item to the March 7, 2013, public hearing. N FILE NO.: Z -3689-i{ Cont. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JANUARY 24, 2013) The applicant was present. There were no registered objectors present. Staff presented the item stating the applicant and their traffic engineer had been working on solutions to the traffic concerns in the area. Staff stated there had not been adequate time for staff to observe the changes implemented by the applicant. Staff presented a recommendation of deferral of this item to the March 7, 2013, public hearing. There was no further discussion of the item. The Chair entertained a motion for approval of the item as presented by staff. The motion carried by a vote of 10 ayes, 0 noes, 0 absent and 1 open position. STAFF UPDATE: The applicant has been working to improve the traffic flow on the site for picking up students and eliminate backing of vehicles on City streets. The school has altered their dismissal time and is using the rear of the site to pick up the high school students once the area clears from parents picking up -.the middle school students. Staff will observe the site on February 27, 2013, ,and again on March 6, 2013, and report to the Commission their findings at the March 7, 2013, public hearing. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (MARCH 7, 2013) The applicant was present. There were registered objectors present. Staff presented the item with an update to the Commission. Staff stated they had made several site visits to the site to view traffic and the stacking of cars on City streets. Staff stated based on their visits to the site during the school dismissal time and observation of the traffic patterns utilizing the implementation of the new traffic plan, the traffic congestion, stacking, and driveway blockage had been reduced by the implementation of the new traffic plan. Staff stated for the 2013 to 2014 school year the applicant had provided a letter stating the dismissal times would be staggered by 50 minutes, which in staffs opinion, would greatly reduce traffic congestion in the area. Staff presented a recommendation of approval of the allowance to increase the number of students based on compliance with the following conditions: 1. A stagger time of 28 to 30 minutes be maintained between middle school and high school dismissal times; 2. At times during the school year, the applicant is to notify parents and students of the school traffic plan and request compliance; 3. The applicant should continue to use the front and rear parking lots for additional vehicle stacking areas; 4. A lane of sufficient width for emergency vehicles must be maintained on Corporate Hill Drive and Executive Center Drive at all times; II FILE NO.: Z -3689-K (Cont. 5. The applicant should provide school staff to implement the traffic plan by directing traffic, loading students, and keeping driveways open both in the front of the school on Corporate Hill Drive and within the rear stacking/loading areas. Staff stated they had one additional issue or concern with the school. Staff stated they and LISA Academy had been focusing on the traffic concerns and neglected to focus on the site and landscaping requirements. Staff stated when the high school building were constructed it appeared the applicant did not complete the entire landscaping requirements. Staff stated a number of trees were cut on the site, the debris had not been removed and the recent storm had brought down a few additional trees. Staff stated the applicant had previously stated a student cut a number of trees along the western portion of the site which were diseased and dead. Staff stated the debris was still on-site. Staff stated within the western portion of the site the soil had not been stabilized and there was significant erosion occurring. Staff stated the parking lot landscaping in the rear of the building had not been completed. Staff requested regardless of the Commission's approval to allow the increase in the number of students that the Commission compel the applicant to present a plan to mitigate the trees which were removed and install landscaping and ground cover on the site. Staff presented a recommendation the landscaping be installed per the approved landscape plan which was prepared in conjunction with the construction of the high school, the western building, and to replace any landscaping which is missing from the site of the middle school. Mr. Randy Tolbert of Peters and Associates addressed the Commission. He stated his firm was hired by LISA to prepare an updated traffic study to address the additional traffic created by the increase in the number of students during the 2012 to 2013 school year. He stated prior to construction of the high school in 2006 his firm was hired to prepare the initial traffic study to determine what impact 600 students would have on traffic flows in the area. He stated based on the study it was determined the school site was capable of handling the traffic flows and not stack vehicles on -City streets. He stated once LISA contacted his firm concerning a revised study to review the increase in the number of students he sat down with the school to review the initial plan as well as review options for implementation of a new plan. Mr. Tolbert stated it was found they were not following the initial recommendations which were developed when the school was to have 600 students. He stated once these recommendations were implemented the stacking of vehicles off-site was greatly reduced but there was still overflow onto the City streets. He stated based on tweaking the plan, altering the dismissal times and working with parents the school had now reduced the off-site stacking to none or very few for a short time. He stated Wednesday was the largest volume of traffic for dismissal due to no after school activities and all the students being dismissed at the same time. He stated the school had added a 25 minute gap between dismissal of the middle and high schools. He stated the school was now picking only the 8th grade students from the front, Corporate Hill Drive, and FILE NO.: Z -3689-K (Cont using the rear of the building to pick up the middle school and the 9th through 12th grades. He stated if a high school parent arrived early, before the queue of the middle school was completed, the school made that parent circle through the site, back onto the City streets and circle back around, Corporate Hill to West Markham to Executive Court, which he felt would lessen the likelihood of a parent arriving early. Mr. Terry Moore addressed the Commission in opposition of the request. He stated he developed the Executive Court office park which contained nine (9) office buildings in 1985. He stated the area was a peaceful office park with owner and tenant based buildings. He stated the initial concern was when he looked out his office window to see a battalion of vehicles coming down Executive Court. He stated from the school to West Markham was approximately two (2) blocks. He stated cars were stacked the entire two (2) blocks as well as onto West Markham Street. He stated Executive Court was a two lane street not developed as a through street but as a quiet cul-de-sac. He stated the school had since obtained an easement and extended their parking lot to create a through street. Mr. Moore stated on paper the traffic study looked good. He stated in reality the plan did not work. He stated the school did not follow the initial recommendations of their Traffic Engineer. He stated the area was an office park. He stated Executive Court was a narrow two lane street. He stated he presently had vacant office space, 18,000 square feet, which would be leased had the potential tenant not come by to look at the space and seen the battalion of vehicles on Corporate Hill. He stated he did not appreciate the fact the school had added 200 students without the City's permission and questioned what would keep the school from adding additional students without the City's permission. He stated the City Engineers and the Police Department had been out to try to direct traffic. He stated he wanted the traffic off Executive Court. Mr. Richard Worsham addressed the Commission in opposition of the request. He stated his law office was located at 320 Executive Court. He stated Executive Court was not as wide as Corporate Hill. He stated Corporate Hill was wide enough for three (3) to four (4) vehicles. He stated Executive Court would only allow two (2) cars. He stated his firm was a small firm with seven (7) employees. He stated there were times his employees could not get back to the office because of stacking of vehicles accessing the school on Executive Court. He stated in addition to the stacking, the vehicles blocked driveways, limiting access into the parking lots of the adjacent office buildings. He stated his clients could not get to his office. He stated occasionally his employees had to walk documents to the bank on West Markham Street, two (2) blocks, because the clients could not get to his office. He stated his currier service would not pick up or deliver packages between 2:45 pm and 3:30 pm because of traffic and their inability to get to has office safely. He stated cars were forced to turn on their flashers and drive in the opposing lane or sit and wait in the line until traffic moved. He stated neither was acceptable and made it difficult to run a business. He stated the school added the additional students without the City's permission and knowledge. He stated the school did not implement the previous plan correctly. He stated he had met with the C~] FILE NO.- Z -3689-K (Cont. school last year when it was found the number of students had been increased. He stated the school had a plan at that time and it did not work. He stated the current plan was working with limited inconvenience but he was still concerned. He questioned traffic associated with after school activities, math and science fairs and sporting events. He stated these activities impacted traffic and the area businesses as well. Mr. Moore stated once again the development was constructed as a quiet office park. He stated Executive Court was a two lane cul-de-sac. He stated the office park was not developed for through traffic and the school had turned the once quiet street into a through street to West Markham. Ms. Luanne Baroni addressed the Commission on behalf of LISA Academy. She stated she was the middle school principal. She stated she was not involved when the application for the high school was reviewed and approved by the Commission. She stated she agreed on the first few days of school the traffic on Executive Court and West Markham were a disaster. She stated the school immediately went to work to resolve the traffic issues in the area. She stated the school had paid to have a new traffic study and traffic plan completed. She stated the school was working diligently to implement a plan which would handle the additional capacity of students and the additional vehicles. She stated the school wanted to minimize the impact on the adjacent neighbors and property owners. She stated one afternoon per week was the problem time. She stated the am traffic occurred before the businesses in the area opened. She stated four (4) of the five (5) days the students left school at different times because of afterschool activities. She stated only on Wednesday did all the students leave at the same dismissal time. She stated the school had done as much as legally possible by altering the dismissal times between the middle and high school students. She stated there was a 28 minute gap between the dismissal time. She stated there were State requirements for the number of minutes of education time that was to provide to students. Ms. Baroni stated the gymnasium was not used for game activities. She stated the games were played at UALR. She stated the gymnasium was to small for game activity and would only hold 150 persons. She stated there were activities which took place on the site such as science and math fairs. She stated the school also held parent teacher conferences twice per year. She stated these conferences were from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm over a two (2) day period. The Commission questioned the hours of operation on the schools web site and the hours provided to staff. Staff stated the letter provided by LISA to them were dismissal times for the 2013 — 2014 school term. Staff stated the hours listed on the web site were for the current school year. Commissioner Brock questioned the schools intent concerning the landscaping. Atnan Ekin of LISA addressed the Commission regarding the landscape plan. He stated the school had been working with the contractor to install the remaining landscaping and 10 FILE NO.: Z -3689-K (Cont. clear the site of debris. He stated regardless of the outcome with the contractor the school would address staffs concerns regarding landscaping within 90 -days. He stated the trees would be removed and the plantings installed as required by the approved landscape plan for the high school building construction. The Commission questioned staff of the application request and the issues outstanding. Staff stated the original request was before the Commission because the property was zoned 0-2, Office and Institutional which was a zoning district which required site plan review prior to development. Staff stated when the application was submitted they had concerns with the number of students proposed (600 students) and the potential impact on the abutting streets. Staff stated the school hired a traffic engineer to prepare a traffic analysis and provide recommendations to how best to handle traffic flows and minimize impact on the area both business and City streets. Staff stated the traffic analysis prepared was based on 600 students which was the number of students LISA proposed with the new building construction. Staff stated later the State Board of Education allowed an increase the number of students from 600 to 800, the current enrollment, but there was not a new traffic analysis or plan prepared by LISA to handle the increase in the number of students and vehicles. Staff stated when the new school year started the property owners on Executive Court and Corporate Hill were calling because the streets were clogged and there were serious safety concerns by the adjacent property owners and tenants of the office buildings. Staff stated the request before the Commission was to allow an increase in the number of students from 600 to 800 based on the newly implemented traffic plan. The Commission questioned Ms. Baroni .and Mr. Ekin why the number of students was increased without seeking approval from the City. Ms. Baroni stated she felt the confusion was enrollment and not building capacity. She stated the capacity of the school was much more than the enrollment. She stated there would not be an increase in the number of students for at least five (5) years. She stated the school was locked into an agreement with the State to not request an increase the number of students for at least five (5) years. The Commission questioned the opposition if commitments were made by the school that would eliminate any sporting events, limit parent teacher conferences to after business hours, limit math and science fairs to weekends, if then they would support the request. Mr. Moore stated he would not support the request. He stated the original application was filed and he took the school at their word. He stated the school presented a traffic plan, committed to 600 students and indicated they would not impact the area businesses. He stated they did not stick to their word. He stated the school had additional capacity. He questioned what would keep the school from adding additional students without seeking approval from the City or notifying the area property owners. The Commission briefly discussed options for removing ,the traffic from Executive Court and placing the entire pick up on Corporate Hill. The Commission also briefly discussed various other options for pick-ups. 11 FILE NO_: Z -3689-K [Cont The Commission questioned Mr. Ekin what would happen if the request was denied. Mr. Ekin stated the school was in a difficult position if the request was not approved. He stated the school could not function financially without the additional students. He stated the school did not purposefully go beyond the previous approval without seeking City approval. He stated they did not know they were to seek approval prior to adding any additional student. He stated they were educators and would have sought approval from the City if they had known it was required. Mr. Andrew Collins of Cypress Properties addressed the Commission. He stated he leased property on Corporate~ Hill. He stated he had concerns if the Commission were to direct all the traffic to Corporate Hill. He stated the current plan worked for Corporate Hill. He did not desire for all the traffic to be directed to the front of the school for pick-up. There was no further discussion of the item. The Chair entertained a motion for approval of the item as recommended by staff including all staff recommendations and comments. The motion failed by a vote of 3 ayes, 7 noes, 0 absent and 1 open position. 12 ITEM NO.: 1. Z -3689-K NAME: Lisa Academy Zoning Site Plan Review LOCATION: located at 21 & 23 Corporate Hill Planning Staff Comments: Provide notification of the property owners located within 200 -feet of the site including the certified abstract list, notice form with affidavit executed and proof of mailing. The notice must be mailed no later than November 28, 2012. The Office of Planning and Development must receive the proof of notice no later than December 7, 2012. VarianceMaivers: None requested. Public Works Conditions: 1. Provide traffic study to staff for review. Item # I .