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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-8416 Staff AnalysisNovember 13, 2008 ITEM NO.: 9 FILE NO.: Z-8416 NAME: Collegiate Choices Charter School — Conditional Use Permit LOCATION: 1215 S. Schiller Street OWNER/APPLICANT: Liberty Hill Baptist Church/ Todd Rice, CBC Hathaway Group PROPOSAL: A conditional use permit is requested to allow a portion of the existing church building on this R-4/C-3 zoned property to be used for a charter school. SITE LOCATION: The site is located at the southeast corner of West 12th Street and S. Schiller Street. 2, COMPATIBILITY WITH NEIGHBORHOOD: The existing church is located on an arterial street in an area of mixed zoning and uses. The Arkansas Children's Hospital campus is located generally northeast of the site. The block of 0-2 zoned property directly to the north is undeveloped. Properties to the east are zoned 0-3 and R-4 and contain a barber shop and the church parking lot. Kids First Child Development Center, a function of UAMS, occupies the C-3 zoned block located to the east. Single family and two-family residences are located to the west and south. The school proposes to utilize one building of this existing church. The existing parking lots will be used as well. Allowing the addition of the proposed school to this existing institutional site appears to be compatible with the neighborhood. All owners of properties located within 200 feet of the site; all residents within 300 feet who could be identified and the Capitol Hill and Central High Neighborhood Associations were notified of this request. 3. ON SITE DRIVES AND PARKING: The proposed school will have an enrollment of up to 216 students in grades 5 through 8. Staffing will consist of no more than 20 persons. The church property includes a 40+ space parking lot located south of the November 13, 2008 ITEM NO.: 9 (Cont. tIWi LI05WAt ,[i[: building and a 50+ space parking lot located across the alley to the east of the building. Staff parking will occur in a portion of the parking lot south of the church. The rear portion of that parking lot will be utilized as an outside play area. The parking lot to the east of the church will remain available for use as needed. Drop-off or pick-up of students is proposed to occur at the front door of the education facility, on the Schiller Street side. The street is wide enough to accommodate two-way traffic and still allow a safe parking area adjacent to the curb in front of the building for drop-off and pick-up. Prior to the start of the school year, instructions will be provided to all parents regarding drop-off and pick-up procedures. Those bringing students to the school or picking students up will be directed to arrive from the south. They will then exit to the north, onto West 12th Street. A paid traffic officer will be utilized to facilitate traffic movement through the Schiller Street/West 12t" Street intersection. School staff will oversee the drop-off and pick-up process directly in front of the school. The City is agreeable to a plan to mark the area in front of the building for drop-off and pick-up during designated hours each school day. 4. SCREENING AND BUFFERS: No comments on this use -only issue. Any additional development of buildings or parking areas will require compliance with the City's landscape and buffer ordinances. 5. PUBLIC WORKS COMMENTS: 1. Provide a traffic flow plan for faculty access and student drop-off and pick-up. 2. At the time of development, if the alley is planned to be used for proposed traffic patterns, the alley should be repaved for your use. 6. UTILITY. FIRE DEPT. AND CATA COMMENTS: Wastewater: Sewer available to this project. Entergy: No comments received. Centerpoint Energy: No comments received. AT&T (SBC): No comments received. 2 November 13, 2008 ITEM NO.: 9 (Cont.) FILE NO.: Z-8413 Water: Contact Central Arkansas Water if larger and/or additional water meter(s) are required. Fire Department: No comments received. County Planning: No Comments. CATA: This site is located on a CATA bus route. SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE COMMENTS: (OCTOBER 23, 2008) Todd Rice was present, representing the application. Staff briefly described the proposed conditional use permit for a charter school. Staff noted that a copy of the current Bill of Assurance needed to be provided. Mr. Rice explained that a title company had searched for a Bill of Assurance, but could not locate one. Staff noted that some additional information was needed related to a signage plan, playground area, drop off/pick-up areas and days/hours of operation. Mr. Rice indicated that the additional information, along with a corrected survey, would be provided to staff. He explained that the church is not currently using the portion of the building proposed for the charter school. The Public Works requirements were briefly discussed. After the discussion, the Committee forwarded the application to the full Commission for final action. STAFF ANALYSIS Liberty Hill Baptist Church is located on the R-4 and C-3 zoned property at 1215 S. Schiller Street. The church's two-story brick, education building is located on the north perimeter of the site. The education building is currently not being used by the church. A conditional use permit is requested to allow Collegiate Choices to operate a charter school for children in grades 5 through 8 in the education building. The Charter School is anticipated to open with an initial enrollment of 100 students; expanding to its total enrollment of 216 students by the beginning of the second year of operation. The school plans on a staff of no more than 20 persons. Hours of operation will be 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The school will be closed to normal classroom activity on weekends. The church property contains a 40+ space parking lot located south of the church building and a 50+ space parking lot located across the alley, east of the building. Employee parking will occur in the front (west) portion of the south parking lot. 3 November 13, 2008 I�►�i�►[�1�'l[+�7ii� FILE NO.: Z-8416 The rear (east) portion of the south parking lot will be used for playground area. The parking lot east of the alley will remain available for use if needed. An existing small playground belonging to the church, located east of the alley, will also be used. Staff is not aware of any outstanding issues. The applicant has responded to issues raised at Subdivision Committee. A traffic circulation/drop-off and pick-up plan has been submitted and approved by staff as reflected in Section 3 of the agenda staff report. The 1925 bill of assurance does not address use issues. The applicant is proposing to utilize an under-utilized portion of this existing church. No exterior changes are proposed other than for the use of a portion of the south parking lot for a playground area. Staff believes the proposed use is compatible with uses in the area. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of the requested C.U.P. subject to compliance with the following conditions: 1. Compliance with the comments and conditions outlined in Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the agenda staff report. 2. Signage is to be limited to that allowed in office and institutional zones. 3. A 6-foot tall, opaque, wood screening fence is to be erected on the south and east perimeters of the playground area located south of the church building. PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION: (NOVEMBER 13, 2008) The applicant was present. There were no 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 further discussion. The item was placed on the consent agenda and approved as recommended by staff. The vote was 7 ayes, 0 noes, 2 absent and 2 open positions. 12