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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-5489-A Staff AnalysisJune 14, 2001 ITEM NO.: 6 FILE NO.: Z -5489-A NAME: Romine Elementary School - Conditional Use Permit LOCATION: 2400 Romine Road TIRIM OPER Little Rock School District 810 West Markham Street Little Rock, AR 72201 AREA: 20 acres -ZONING: R-2 ARCHITECT: Woods-Caradine Architects 2200 S. Main Street Little Rock, AR 72206-1530 NUMBER OF LOTS: 1 FT. NEW STREET: 0 ALLOWED USES: School PROPOSED USE: School expansion VARIANCES/WAIVERS REQUESTED: Deferral of street improvements to West 36t3' Street. A. PROPOSAL/REQUEST: The Little Rock School District requests a Conditional Use Permit to allow the expansion of the existing Romine Elementary School at 2400 Romine Road. The property is zoned R-2. The proposal is for a single building expansion along the north side of the existing school building. The building addition will consist of 7,215 square feet and be approximately 17 feet in height. The building addition will be a stand alone structure connected to the main building's cafeteria via an enclosed breezeway. The exterior of the proposed building addition will be constructed to match the exterior of the existing school building. The proposed building addition will provide five (5) additional classrooms with public toilets and June 14, 2001 ITEM NO.: 6 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -5489-A mechanical/storage space. This will bring the total number of classrooms to 32. The classroom expansion will also allow for the removal of two (2) existing portable classrooms, as noted on the attached site plan. The applicant is also requesting a deferral of street improvements to West 36t' Street as part of this application. The requested deferral is for five (5) years or until further development of the Romine Elementary School site, whichever occurs first. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The property contains an existing elementary school building, with parking along the building's south and east sides. There are three (3) existing access points from Romine Road,. The south one-half of the property is wooded and undeveloped. There are single family residences to the north, west and across West 36th Street to the south. There are single family residences, a church and a multifamily development across Romine Road to the east. C. NEIGHBORHOOD COMMENTS: The Campus Place, Kensington Place and John Barrow Neighborhood Associations were notified of the public hearing. As of this writing, staff has received one (1) phone call from a person requesting information on this application. D. ENGINEERING COMMENTS: PUBLIC WORKS CONDITIONS: 1. Provide design of West Street Plan. Construct including sidewalk with 36th Street conforming to Master one-half street improvements planned development. With Building Permit: 1. Property frontage needs to have the sidewalks and ramps brought up to the current ADA standards. 2. Repair or replace any curb and gutter or sidewalk that is damaged in the public right-of-way prior to occupancy. 3. Plans of all work in right-of-way shall be submitted for approval prior to start of work. 4. Stormwater detention ordinance applies to this property. 2 June 14, 2001 ITEM NO.: 6 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -5489-A E. UTILITIES, FIRE DEPARTMENT AND CATA: Wastewater: Sewer available, not adversely affected. Entergy: No Comment received. ARKLA: No Comment received. Southwestern Bell: No Comment. Water: No Comment. Fire Department: No Comment. CATA: Project site is located near bus route #14 and has no effect on bus radius, turnout and route. F. LANDSCAPE ISSUES: The existing trees provide for the required perimeter landscaping. A 15% upgrade in interior or building landscaping toward compliance with the Landscape Ordinance is required. There is considerable flexibility with this small amount of landscaping upgrade. G. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT: (MAY 24, 2001) Doug Eaton and Ron Woods were present, representing the application. Staff briefly described the proposed conditional use permit, noting that several additional items needed to be shown on a revised site plan. Staff also noted that the applicant needed to provide the total number of classrooms (existing and proposed) and the total number of existing parking spaces on the site. The Public Works requirements were briefly discussed. It was noted that the property frontage along Romine Road needed the sidewalks and ramps brought up to current ADA standards. The landscape requirements were also discussed. Bob Brown, of the Planning Staff, noted that a 15 percent upgrade in landscaping was required. He noted that this could involve additional plantings in existing landscaped areas. 3 June 14, 2001 ITEM NO.: 6 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -5489-A After the discussion, the Committee forwarded the conditional use permit to the full Commission for final action. H. ANALYSIS: The applicant submitted a revised site plan to staff on May 31, 2001. The revised plan addresses the issues as raised by staff at the Subdivision Committee meeting. The building heights, existing dumpster location, fencing, total number of classrooms and total number of existing parking spaces have been shown on the revised plan. The revised site plan shows that there are 138 existing parking spaces on the site. The ordinance requires a minimum of 32 parking spaces to serve a school of this size. Therefore, there are no parking issues associated with this development. As noted in paragraph A., the applicant is requesting a deferral of street improvements to West 36th Street. Public Works supports the deferral for five (5) years or until further development of the Romine Elementary School site, whichever occurs first. To staff's knowledge, there are no outstanding issues associated with the Conditional Use Permit. The proposed building expansion to the Romine Elementary School should have no adverse impact on the general area. The proposed building addition conforms to ordinance standards with respect to building setbacks and height. I. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends approval of the conditional use permit subject to the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the requirements as noted in paragraphs D and F of this report. 2. Staff recommends approval of the deferral of street improvements for five (5) years or until further development of the Romine Elementary School site, whichever occurs first. 4 June 14, 2001 ITEM NO.: 6 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -5489-A 3.Any site lighting must be low-level and directed away from adjacent property. 4. The existing portable classrooms must be removed with the new building construction. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (JUNE 14, 2001) The staff presented a positive recommendation on this application, as there were no further issues for resolution. There were no objectors to this matter. The Chairman placed the item before the Commission for inclusion within the Consent Agenda for approval as recommended by staff. A motion to that,effect was made. The motion passed by a vote of 7 ayes, 0 nays, 3 absent, and 1 open position. 5