HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-6079-E Staff AnalysisFebruary 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F
NAME: Little Rock Christian Academy —
Conditional Use Permit
LOCATION: 19010 Cantrell Road
FILE NO.: Z -6079-E
OWNER/APPLICANT: Little Rock Christian Academy/The Wilcox Group
PROPOSAL: A revision to a previously approved conditional use
permit is requested to allow for revision of the phasing
plan and an increase in student population and
building square frontage for this existing private
school.
SITE LOCATION:
The school is located on the north side of Cantrell Road, between The
Ranch and Chenal Parkway.
2. COMPATIBILITY WITH NEIGHBORHOOD:
The campus is located in an area of mixed uses and zoning located along
Cantrell Road. The properties to the east contain a variety of uses
including residential, commercial and office. Undeveloped tracts are
located directly to the west and north. The Cantrell/Chenal intersection is
just west of the site. This intersection includes a mixture of uses,
including the new Walmart Supercenter. A church and a scattering of
single family residences are located to the south. The proposed revision
should not affect the school's continued compatibility with the
neighborhood.
All owners of property located within 200 feet of the site, all residents within
300 feet who could be identified and the Aberdeen, and DuQuesne
Neighborhood Associations were notified of this request.
3. ON SITE DRIVES AND PARKING:
At total build -out, the school is to have 100 classrooms, housing 2,058
students. The break -down of classes by grades and the parking
requirement is as follows:
February 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F (Cont.
FILE NO.: Z -6079-E
GRADES # OF CLASSROOMS PARKING SPACES
REQUIRED
ELEMENTARY
KINDERGARTEN
12
(200 Students)
20
1ST GRADE
7
7
2ND GRADE
7
7
3RD GRADE
7
7
4TH GRADE
7
7
5TH GRADE
7
7
6TH GRADE
7
7
MIDDLE SCHOOL
AND HIGH SCHOOL
7TH GRADE
7
42
8TH GRADE
7
42
9TH GRADE
8
48
10TH GRADE
8
48
11TH GRADE
8
48
12TH GRADE
8
48
TOTAL NUMBER OF
CLASSROOMS 100 338
The school is proposed to have 220 employees (faculty). One parking
space is required for each teacher, employee and administrator.
Combining the 220 required faculty spaces with the 338 required
classroom/student spaces results in a total parking requirement of 558
on-site parking spaces.
The site currently has 218 paved parking spaces and 50 spaces in a
temporary, gravel parking area; a total of 268 spaces. Phase I of this
revision includes the construction of a new driveway off of Cantrell Road,
providing additional stacking space for drop-off/pick-up. Phase III
includes the construction of additional drives and 333 more paved parking
spaces. Phases VI completes the parking with 120 more spaces. The
plan proposes a total of 693 paved parking spaces and over a mile of
driveways to provide stacking space. A traffic signal is proposed to be
installed in conjunction with the Phase I drive.
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February 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z -6079-F_
4. SCREENING AND BUFFERS:
Compliance with the City's Landscape and Buffer Ordinances and the
Highway 10 Design Overlay standards is required.
Interior landscape islands must be at least 300 square feet in area to
receive credit toward fulfilling landscape ordinance requirements.
Unless otherwise provided for, a six (6) foot high opaque screen, either a
wooden fence with its face side directed outward, a wall, or dense
evergreen plantings, is required along the northern, eastern and western
perimeters of the site.
Landscaped areas are required to be irrigated.
Prior to a building permit being issued, it will be necessary to provide
landscape plans stamped with the seal of a Registered Landscape
Architect.
5. PUBLIC WORKS COMMENTS:
1. A grading permit in accordance with Section 29-186(c) and (d) will be
required prior to any land clearing or grading activities at the site. Site
grading, and drainage plans will need to be submitted and approved
prior to the start of construction.
2. Given the increased number of students and current method of traffic
control, a traffic signal should be provided to serve the development.
Coordinate design of traffic signal with Traffic.
6. UTILITY. FIRE DEPT. AND CATA COMMENTS:
Wastewater: Sewer available, not adversely affected.
Entergy: No Comments received.
CenterPoint Energy: No Comments received.
Southwestern Bell: No Comments received.
Water: All Central Arkansas Water requirements in effect at the time of
request for water service must be met. The facilities on-site will be
private. When meters are planned off private lines, private facilities
shall be installed to Central Arkansas Water's material and
construction specifications and installation will be inspected by an
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February 3, 2005
ITEM! NO.: F Cont. FILE NO.: Z -6079-F
engineer, licensed to practice in the State of Arkansas. Execution of
Customer Owned Line Agreement is required.
A Capital Investment Charge based on the size of connection(s) will
apply to this project in addition to normal charges. This fee will apply
to all meter connections including any metered connections off the
private fire system. Extension of the fire line and additional fire
hydrant(s) will be required. Contact the Little Rock Fire Department to
obtain information regarding the required placement of the hydrant(s)
and contact Central Arkansas Water regarding procedures for
installation of the hydrant(s).
This development will have minor impact on the existing water
distribution system. Proposed water facilities will be sized to provide
adequate pressure and fire protection.
Fire Department: Approved as submitted.
County Planning: Western portion of site is outside of city limits.
Development must comply with Pulaski County Planning standards or
annex to City of Little Rock.
CATA: The site is not located on a CATA bus route. The Highway 10
express route does pass in front of the site.
SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENT- (NOVEMBER 11, 2004)
The applicant was present. Staff presented the item and noted additional
information was needed regarding signage, fencing and building designs. Staff
asked the applicant to correct the parking design and scale shown on the site
plan and to add the Phase 6 parking to the phasing chart. Staff noted the
requested variances and deferrals related to sidewalks and the interior drives
and parking areas.
Public Works Comments were noted. Staff voiced support for deferring the
Cantrell Road sidewalk until Phase 5 or future development on adjacent
properties. Staff stated a traffic signal was needed on Cantrell Road. The
applicant's engineer, Ernie Peters, stated he would coordinate the signal location
with Public Works. He agreed that a signal was needed. Mr. Peters stated the
school was in agreement to install the signal, if AHTD would allow it. Public
Works staff stated they would advocate the signal to AHTD.
Utility and Landscape Comments were noted. It was noted that the required
screening on the perimeters would be dense evergreen plantings rather than a
G!
February 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F (Cont_
FILE NO.: Z -6079-E
wood fence. Staff responded that it was acceptable to do the screening in that
manner.
The applicant was advised to respond to staff issues by November 17, 2004.
The Committee determined there were no other issues and forwarded the item to
the full Commission.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
Little Rock Christian Academy currently occupies a 50t acre tract of R-2 zoned
property located at 19010 Cantrell Road. The west half of the site is in an
"island", outside of the city limits.
On December 12, 1995, the Planning Commission approved the first conditional
use permit to allow the school, then known as Walnut Valley Christian Academy,
to build a new campus on a 20 -acre site. The school was originally approved to
have an enrollment of 1,040 students with a staff of 100.
On June 26, 1997, the Commission approved a revision to the conditional use
permit allowing for expansion of the school onto an adjacent 10 -acre tract.
Enrollment stayed at 1,040 and employee numbers increased to 110.
On September 3, 1998, the Commission approved a second revision to the
conditional use permit allowing for a change in the phasing plan and an increase
in enrollment to 1,100 students. Employee numbers stayed at 110.
On May 11, 2000, the Commission approved a third revision to the conditional
use permit allowing for the introduction of a new phase. The site stayed at 30±
acres and enrollment and employee numbers stayed at 1,100 and 110
respectively.
On January 9, 2003, the Commission approved a fourth revision to the
conditional use permit allowing for expansion onto an adjacent 20 -acre tract;
resulting in a total of 50t acres. The revision allowed for expansion of the school
and an increase in student enrollment and employee numbers to 1,700 and 170
respectively. The plan included the introduction of several new buildings, a track
and practice field, a baseball field and additional parking. Some of the
previously approved buildings were relocated under the new plan.
The school is now proposing a revision to the C.U.P. allowing for a slight
increase in student population and building square footage. The phases for
future construction have been revised to accommodate the school's current and
projected needs. The student and faculty/staff numbers are now proposed as
2,058 and 220 respectively. The total building square footage is proposed to
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February 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F (Cont.)
FILE NO.: Z -6079-E
increase from 264,924 square feet to 309,424 square feet. The baseball field
has been eliminated from the plan and the practice field and track have been
relocated from the front of the site to the rear. There is some slight modification
of the driveways and parking. The second driveway has been relocated farther
from the west property line and widened into more of a primary entrance. A
traffic signal will be installed at this entrance.
The existing building summary and proposed phased construction plan are as
follow:
EXISTING BUILDINGS
ELEMENTARY BUILDING
39,424 S.F.
MIDDLE SCHOOL BUILDING
23,000
ACTIVITIES BUILDING
15,200
GYM
20,000
ADMIN
2,900
MULTIPURPOSE BUILDING
15,500 S.F.
FUTURE BUILDINGS
PHASE 1
ATHLETIC TRAINING 7,000 S.F.
SCIENCE BUILDING 15,000 S.F.
PHASE 2
DROP-OFF/PICK-UP MODIFICATIONS
CANOPY/PAVILION SYSTEM
PHASE 3
PRACTICE FIELD AND TRACK
PARKING
ADMINISTRATION BLDG. ADDITION 1,400 S.F.
PHASE 4
HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM ADDITIONS 20,000 S.F.
PHASE 5
HIGH SCHOOL ADDITIONS 55,000 S.F.
PHASE 6
GYMNASIUM 35,000 S.F.
ADDITIONAL PARKING AND DRIVES
February 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F (Cont.
PHASE 7
AUDITORIUM
PHASE 8
KINDERGARTEN BUILDING
TOTAL CAMPUS AREA
FILE NO.: Z -6079-E
45,000 S.F.
15,000 S.F.
309,424 S.F.
The proposed break -down of classrooms by grade is as follows:
EARLY CHILDHOOD # OF STUDENTS # OF STUDENTS
CLASSES PER
X CLASS
KINDERGARTEN — 4 yr old 5 X 15 75
KINDERGARTEN — 5 yr old 7 X 18 125
1ST GRADE 7 X 20 140
ELEMENTARY
2ND
GRADE
7 X
22
154
3RD
GRADE
7 X
22
154
4TH
GRADE
7 X
22
154
5TH
GRADE
7 X
22
154
MIDDLE SCHOOL
6TH GRADE 7 X 22 154
7TH GRADE 7 X 22 154
8TH GRADE 7 X 22 154
HIGH SCHOOL
9TH GRADE
8 X
20
160
10TH GRADE
8 X
20
160
11TH GRADE
8 X
20
160
12TH GRADE
8 X
20
160
2058 — TOTAL STUDENTS
220 — TOTAL FACULTY/STAFF
The school is proposing to maintain the one existing monument sign and will not
request additional ground -signs on Cantrell Road. Currently, the school does not
have building signage. If they decide to add additional signage on the buildings,
it will be limited to a single wall sign per building which complies with the sign
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February 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F (Cont.
FILE NO.: Z -6079-E
ordinance. The Phase I building construction will closely resemble the school's
current design, consisting of a combination of metal siding and white masonry
veneer with sloping silver metal roofs. Future phases will likely use more
masonry veneer and less metal siding while maintaining the use of sloping metal
roofs.
The school is requesting, and staff is supporting, a deferral of sidewalk
construction on Cantrell Road until Phase V or development of adjacent
properties. The school is also requesting and staff is supporting, deferral of curb
and gutter along the Phase I driveway and use of a gravel parking lot until Phase
III. Under Phase III, the practice field is moved to its permanent location as
shown on the master plan and the permanent paved parking can be completed.
The west half of the property is not in the city limits. It is an "island" surrounded
by the corporate limits. Staff believes it is appropriate to require annexation of
this portion of the school campus. As it is, there will be confusion for emergency
service providers. It is not beneficial to the school to have half of its campus in
the city and half out.
Based on the City's current sewer policy, since the site is contiguous to the city
limits, the site must be annexed in order to obtain sewer service.
Other than for the annexation issue, to staff's knowledge, there are no
outstanding issues. On November 17, the applicant submitted responses to
issues raised at Subdivision Committee and reflected in the analysis above.
There is no bill of assurance for this property.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the requested revised C.U.P. subject to
compliance with the following conditions:
1. Compliance with the staff comments and conditions outlined in Sections 4, 5
and 6 of the staff report; including installation of a traffic signal on Cantrell
Road in conjunction with the Phase I driveway.
2. The portion of the school campus that is currently not in the city limits must
be annexed prior to Phase I being constructed.
Staff recommends approval of the requested deferral of sidewalk construction on
Cantrell Road until Phase V or development of adjacent properties, whichever
occurs first.
Staff recommends approval of the requested deferral of curb and gutter along
the Phase I driveway and use of a gravel parking lot until Phase III.
0
February 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F (Cont.
FILE NO.: Z -6079-E
PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (DECEMBER 16, 2004)
The applicant was present. There were no registered objectors present. Staff
requested that the item be deferred to the February 3, 2005 Agenda to allow for
further study of access issues. The applicant had previously agreed to the
deferral. There was no further discussion.
The item was placed on the Consent Agenda and deferred to the February 3,
2005 meeting by a vote of 8 ayes, 0 noes and 3 absent.
STAFF UPDATE:
The application has been modified slightly. A 5.19± acre parcel at the southwest
corner has been removed from the plan. There are no specific plans for that
parcel, although it is anticipated that some sort of office rezoning request will be
proposed at a later date. The new driveway is now being shown as entering the
school campus from the west. The driveway will tie into a new collector street
which will be built west of the campus. The new street and school access will be
constructed to coincide with phase I of the campus plan. This new street will be
signalized at its intersection with Cantrell Road. City Staff, the adjacent land
owner and the school have all agreed to the new plan. Due to the change in the
driveway alignment, a total of 680 parking spaces will be provided on site, not
693 as originally proposed. The total parking requirement is still 558 spaces. No
changes are proposed in the other elements of the plan; including phasing,
student and faculty numbers and buildings.
Below is a summary of the joint access basic design elements agreed to by the
parties.
LRCA-Pfeifer shared access to a new traffic signal controlled intersection on
Highway 10 at the location Pfeifer has proposed for the collector street
(Northwest Territory Parkway). This would be without affecting the location of
the existing Wal-Mart truck drive on the south side of Hwy. 10. The traffic
signal operation would utilize what is termed as "split -phasing", with the north
and south legs operating as distinct separate signal phases. This will permit
dual left -turning movements southbound to eastbound onto Hwy. 10. This
will also allow left turns from the Wal-Mart truck drive to be served by the
traffic signal, but green time would only be called for northbound to
westbound left turn vehicle demand (northbound right turns would be in
available gaps with right -turn -on -red).
2. LRCA Drive would be constructed to a 4 -lane width and intersect Northwest
Territory Parkway approximately 500 feet north of Hwy. 10. As necessary,
LRCA will employ off-duty police officers to direct traffic at the intersection of
Northwest Territory Parkway and LRCA Drive.
February 3, 2005
ITEM NO.: F Cont. FILE NO.: Z -6079-E
3. Future east -west commercial drive access to Northwest Territory Parkway will
be permitted at approximately 250 feet north of Hwy. 10 (subject to working
out the Entergy ownership issue) to serve the out parcels on the south edge
of the LRCA site.
4. Northwest Territory Parkway would be constructed to a 4 -lane width north
from Hwy. 10 to some distance past the proposed Northwest Territory Court
intersection to the west. This will allow separate (side-by-side, opposite -
direction) left turn lanes to Northwest Territory Court and to LRCA Drive so
there is no center left turn lane use conflicts in the offset area between the
two intersections. Alternately, Northwest Territory Court could be re -aligned
to intersect Northwest Territory Parkway further north and thereby provide
sufficient distance between the offset intersections to allow bi-directional left -
turn lane usage.
5. No changes would be made to the existing LRCA Boulevard intersection with
Hwy. 10. LRCA would effect all left in and left out movements at the signal
controlled intersection (Northwest Territory Parkway intersection with Hwy.
10), not at LRCA Boulevard and Hwy. 10 during AM arrival and PM dismissal
peak school periods. LRCA Boulevard and Hwy. 10 would not be controlled
by off-duty police officers.
6. The only access to Hwy. 10 between Northwest Territory Parkway and LRCA
Boulevard would be a single right -in -right -out access drive to the out parcels.
Note that all issues related to Hwy. 10 access are yet subject to concurrence by
Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department.
Staff is supportive of the modified plan and continues to recommend approval of
the C.U.P. subject to compliance with all staff comments and conditions outlined
in the agenda.
PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (FEBRUARY 3, 2005)
The applicant was present. There were no registered objectors present. Staff
presented the item and a recommendation of approval subject to compliance
with the conditions outlined in the "Staff Recommendation" above. There was no
additional discussion.
The item was placed on the Consent Agenda and approved as recommended by
staff; including all staff comments and conditions. The vote was 9 ayes, 0 noes
and 2 absent.
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