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Home My WebLink AboutSP201800006 Staff Report 2019-03-25COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE TRANSMITTAL TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS SUMMARY OF PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION AGENDA TITLE: SP201800006 Little Explorers Discovery School SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Special use permit request for preschool/after school program at Crozet Baptist Church located at 5804 St. George Ave. in Crozet SCHOOL DISTRICTS: Western Albemarle High, Henley Middle, Crozet Elementary schools BACKGROUND: AGENDA DATE: October 10, 2018 STAFF CONTACT(S): Gast -Bray, Benish, Reitelbach PRESENTER(S): Andrew Reitelbach At its meeting on August 14, 2018 the Planning Commission (PC) conducted a public hearing and voted 6:0 to recommend approval of SP201800006 with the conditions outlined in the staff report, inclusive of recommended modifications to condition #5 related to fencing. Attachments A, B, and C are the PC staff report, action letter, and minutes from the PC meeting. DISCUSSION: The Planning Commission did not recommend any changes; however minor wording changes to the conditions were recommended by the County Attorney's office which do not change their substance. Attachment D shows those changes. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends that the Board adopt the attached Resolution (Attachment E) to approve SP201800006 with the conditions attached thereto. ATTACHMENTS: Attach.A — Staff Report for 8/14/2018 PC Public Hearing Attach.A1 — Location Map Attach.A2 — Application for Preschool and Narrative Attach.A3 — Comments Received to date Attach.B —Action Letter Attach.0 — Meeting Minutes from 8/14/2018 PC Public Hearing Attach.D — Red -line version of changes to Conditions Attach. E - Resolution to Approve SP201800006 pF AL LJRG113t4+ ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING STAFF REPORT SUMMARY Project Name: SP201800006 Little Explorers Staff. Elaine Echols, David Benish, Andrew Reitelbach Discovery School (Crozet Baptist Church) Planning Commission Public Hearing: Board of Supervisors Hearing: August 14, 2018 To be determined Owner(s): Crozet Baptist Church Applicant(s): Christie Gillette TMP: 056A1-01-00-08200 Special Use Permit for: Day care, child care or nursery Acreage: 2.25 acres facility in accordance with Section 14.2.2.7 of the Zoning Ordinance (corrected from August 14 staff report) Location: 5804 St. George Avenue Zoning/by-right use: Magisterial District: White Hall Proffers/Conditions: Yes School District: Western Albemarle High School, Henley Middle School, Crozet Elementary School DA (Development Area): Crozet Requested # of Dwelling Units/Lots: N/A Proposal: Preschool/After School program for up Comp. Plan Designation: Neighborhood Density to 40 students Residential Character of Property: Existing church building, Use of Surrounding Properties: Residential in an house, parking area, and back yard existing single family detached neighborhood. There are two businesses along St. George Ave., including a funeral home. Factors Favorable: Factors Unfavorable: 1. The proposed use is consistent with the Crozet 1. The use will generate additional vehicular trips on St. Master Plan. George Avenue; however, a staggered drop off period 2. The proposed use is located within the will be used to better distribute traffic and reduce Development Areas and will help support new impacts with public school traffic. residential development in Crozet. 2. Outdoor play by children will generate noise; however, the addition of a privacy fence and enlarged play area in the back yard of the church will help to attenuate impacts. Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of this special use permit with conditions. SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School Planning Commission: August 14, 2018 Page 1 STAFF CONTACT: Elaine Echols; David Benish; Andrew Reitelbach PLANNING COMMISSION: August 14, 2018 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: TBD PETITION: PROJECT: SP201800006 Little Explorers Discovery School (Crozet Baptist Church) MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: White Hall TAX MAP/PARCEL: 056A1-01-00-08200 LOCATION: 5804 St. George Avenue PROPOSAL: Preschool/After School program for up to 40 students PETITION: Request for day care, child care or nursery facility in accordance with Section 14.2.2.7 of the Zoning Ordinance on 2.25 acres. No residential use is proposed. ZONING: R2 Residential which allows 2 dwelling units/acre and institutional and public uses. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Neighborhood Density Residential which allows 3-6 units /acre; supporting uses such as religious institutions, schools and other small-scale non-residential uses in the Community of Crozet. CHARACTER OF THE AREA The 2.25 acre property is on the north side of St. George Ave. in Crozet. Adjacent properties are single family houses. A parking lot for the church is directly across the street. The neighborhood contains single family detached housing, a funeral home, and another small business. The neighborhood and property are all zoned R2 Residential. Crozet Elementary School is located approximately %2 mile away to the north on Crozet Ave. Attachment A contains a location map. PLANNING AND ZONING HISTORY • SDP 1979-00052 - approval of a site development plan to construct a 9,000 square foot auditorium addition to the existing church. This plan was approved; however, construction did not occur, and the plan expired in 1981. • SDP1982-00045 - approval of a site development plan to construct a 3,043 square foot addition to the existing church, increasing the overall size of the church to 10,601 square feet, and to expand the parking lot. This plan was submitted and approved, and replaced the 1979 plan, as that plan from 1979 had been approved, but expired on March 27, 1981, without construction commencing. • SUB 1993-00074 - approval of a subdivision plat to vacated property lines, showing the combining of three separate parcels into one larger parcel, which is the current parcel that the main building of Crozet Baptist Church is situated on, to the north of St. George Avenue. • SP1999-00064 - approval of a special use permit to allow two houses on church property to be used for church education and group meeting space (youth group) on the first floor. • SP2003-00058 - approval of a special use permit to allow office use on the first floor of the houses, in addition to church education and group meeting space. DETAILS OF THE PROPOSAL The applicant has requested approval to use a portion of the Crozet Baptist Church building for a preschool and afterschool program. It would operate Tuesday through Friday, 7:30 — 5:00 p.m. While a maximum of 40 students might be enrolled, only 25 would be present at one time. The applicant has indicated that drop-offs and pick-ups will be staggered throughout the day. A large outdoor play set already exists. This area will be fenced and fencing may include the entire back yard. The applicant's request is provided as Attachment B. COMMUNITY MEETING A community meeting was held on June 20 at the Crozet Community Advisory Committee (CCAC) meeting. Approximately 50 persons attended the CCAC meeting. According to one of the neighbors, there were eight residents in immediate vicinity of the Crozet Baptist Church who attended that meeting for the proposal. SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School Planning Commission: August 14, 2018 Page 2 At the meeting four residents spoke. They were concerned with • loud outdoor noise • too much traffic (existing and proposed) • a potential change in character of the street • safety due to potential speeding where speeding is already a problem • safety of children walking to school and riding bicycles • materials and height of any future fencing • need for teacher supervision of outdoor activities • an eroding sidewalk. Others in attendance, including CCAC members commented that a significant need exists for preschool and after school programs in Crozet. Several CCAC members asked the applicant if the program could operate Monday through Friday instead of just Tuesday through Friday. Another member of the CCAC said that the request is not unprecedented: Victory Hill Church on Hillsdale operates without problems in its neighborhood. Another CCAC member said that he had run similar types of programs in several different residential neighborhoods before moving to Crozet. He said that the use makes sense in a residential neighborhood and is typically a good neighbor. A representative of the church attended the community meeting. She said that average Sunday attendance is 125 and a mother's group with 20 — 25 children from 9 — 11 already meets at the church on Monday. As a result, Little Explorers could only operate 4 days a week. Emailed comments received from neighbors are included in Attachment C. An email from one of the CCAC members is also included in Attachment C. ANALYSIS OF THE SPECIAL USE PERMIT REQUEST Section 33.8 of the Zoning Ordinance states that the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors shall reasonably consider the following factors when reviewing and acting upon an application for a special use permit: No substantial detriment. The proposed special use will not be a substantial detriment to adiacent lots. The church has been in operation at this location since 1951, without problems to the neighborhood. Similarly, the funeral home to the west of the church on St. George Ave. has been in operation for many decades, having opened in 1967 at its current location. The owners of the lot to the west have contacted staff with their concerns and belief that the use will substantially harm their property by adding a business to the neighborhood and having regular children's outdoor activities so close to their property. They are concerned about enjoyment of their property. The owners to the north of the property said at the community meeting that children frequently trespass on others' properties and create safety concerns. They wanted to make sure fencing is provided. Staff has passed on these concerns to the applicant and the church. The church has indicated to staff that it will provide a privacy fence along the back of the lot and western property line. The playground inside that fenced area will be encircled with a chain length fence. Representatives from the church have committed to work with their neighbors on the height and materials of the privacy fence. Staff believes that both the church and the applicant will work with the neighbors to create as minimal an impact as possible and that the proposed use will not be a detriment. Character of district. The character of the district will not be changed by the proposed special use. The property and its surroundings are zoned R2 which is a low density single family residential district. Religious institutions, day cares, and small private schools frequently locate in residential areas because they help support residents. The proposed use is primarily within an existing building and no building changes are needed. Outdoors, the applicant has indicated that the children must be supervised at all times and only small groups will SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School Planning Commission: August 14, 2018 Page 3 be outside at a single time — not the full 25 children. Neighbors have said that they believe the character of the neighborhood will change as a result of this use. They have cited concerns with fencing of the yard and the addition of a business in the church. Staff believes that the use will not be appreciably different from typical church activities that might take place in the summer (Vacation Bible School) or throughout the year. Staff appreciates the concerns raised but believes that the use fits in with the character of nearby properties in the same zoning district. Harmony. The proposed special use will be in harmony with the purpose and intent of this chapter, The purpose of Chapter 18 of the Zoning Ordinance is to promote the public health, safety, convenience, and welfare and to accomplish the objectives of Virginia Code §§ 15.2-2200 and 15.2-2283. To these ends, this chapter is intended to: A. Provide for adequate light, air, convenience of access, and safety from fire, flood, impounding structure failure, crime and other dangers; B. Reduce or prevent congestion in the public streets; C. Facilitate creating a convenient, attractive and harmonious community; D. Facilitate providing adequate police and fire protection, disaster evacuation, civil defense, transportation, water, sewerage, flood protection, schools, parks, forests, playgrounds, recreational facilities, airports and other public requirements;... Staff believes that the proposed use will not affect light, air, convenience of access or any of the other items in A. above. Due to the small amount of traffic anticipated, congestion in the public streets is not expected. The use is intended to help promote convenience for Crozet families who are currently not able to find a preschool or after school program for their children. Staff believes that the applicant will work with neighboring property owners to find a suitable fencing material and height that will help maintain an attractive and harmonious community. The use will also help provide for adequate schools in the community. The purpose and intent of the R2 zoning district is: to establish a plan implementation zone that: • Provides a potential transition density between higher and lower density areas established through previous development and/or zoning in community areas and the urban area; and • Provides incentives for clustering of development and provision of locational, environmental and development amenities. • R-2 districts may be permitted within community and urban area locations designated on the comprehensive plan. (Amended 9-9-92) The proposed use does not affect the intent of the R2 zoning district. The proposed special use will be in harmony with the uses permitted by right in the district, By right uses include single family detached houses; public uses and buildings including schools, offices, parks, playgrounds and roads funded, owned or operated by local, state or federal agencies; and family day homes. Staff believes that the size of this preschool in an existing church building at the proposed location would be in harmony with its surrounding by -right uses. The proposed special use will be harmony with the regulations provided in section 5 as applicable, The supplementary regulations in Section 5 require that a day care acquire and maintain licensure from the state department of Social Services and pass inspection by the fire marshal. The applicant is subject to these requirements before being given a zoning permit to operate. SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School Planning Commission: August 14, 2018 Page 4 The proposed special use will be in harmony with the public health, safety and meneral welfare. Public health, safety, and general welfare are typically assessed by analyzing impacts from land disturbance, traffic, and other activities such as noise, vibration, smells, and the like. No real land disturbance is proposed; fencing typically does not involve excavation or result in runoff. The key issues of concern, especially to neighbors are the potential traffic impacts that could affect safety and noise generation. Regarding traffic, neighbors have cited speeding, which is an existing problem; additional vehicles travelling the street making it more difficult for walking and bicycling, especially for children; and more traffic pressure on the intersection of St. George Ave. and Crozet Avenue. Crozet Avenue carries higher traffic volumes at the same time as day care drop off will occur because of proximity to Crozet Elementary School. Neighbors have contacted the County's Transportation Planner requesting assistance with traffic calming in the neighborhood. He has said that he will come out and observe traffic once school is back in session and also do a review of the existing signage on the street to insure that it is visible and properly placed. If changes are needed to result in improved adherence to safe travel, he said the County will assist the neighborhood in making these changes. He has said that placing speed reading digital signs will tell drivers how fast they are going compared to the speed limit and may be effective in this neighborhood. The Transportation Planner said that the speed readers also collect data on speeding that can be used to identify the need for more robust measures that could be employed to help calm traffic. He said he will speak with Albemarle County police department about getting a sign placed on St. George Ave. and also request some additional enforcement from them especially once school begins. The estimated maximum trips resulting from the use is less than 31 additional one-way trips each morning. In reality, there would be fewer trips because several of the teachers will be bringing their children with them before 7:30, sometimes more than one child in a family is dropped off, and carpooling also occurs. To help minimize the impact between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m., the applicant has proposed staggered drop-off times. Teachers will arrive before 7:30 a.m.; early drop off begins at 7:30 a.m. and regular drop off begins at 8:30 a.m. Staff acknowledges that even this small amount of traffic will be felt by some in the neighborhood but does not believe that this small number constitutes a large impact to traffic on St. George Avenue during that time. Regarding noise, staff believes that the addition of a privacy fence;creating an opportunity for children to play in the entire fenced area instead of being restricted to just the playground area; andthe limited number of children playing at the same time will help minimize any negative impacts from noise. Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan. The use will be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The Development Areas chapter of the Comprehensive Plan discusses the importance of preserving existing neighborhoods, but acknowledging that investments have made in those neighborhoods that help strengthen the neighborhoods: Existing neighborhoods are also key features of the Development Areas. Investments in infrastructure, such as water, sewer; sidewalks, and drainage, help to strengthen these neighborhoods. Improved street networks, connections to employment centers, and excellent school facilities help support residential development as well as encourage businesses to expand. Although it is intended mostly for public schools, the Community Facilities chapter of the Comprehensive Plan contains a strategy concerning new schools (Little Explorers is a Day Care/PreSchool with an after school program) Strategy 3a: Locate new schools in the Development Areas. Only locate new schools in the Rural Area by exception when either physical constraints, land area needs or availability, or service considerations may necessitate it. SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School Planning Commission: August 14, 2018 Page 5 In both Development Area goals and Community Facility goals, staff believes that this day care/preschool use is in conformity with the County's overall Comprehensive Plan. Consistency of special use permit requests is also evaluated against master plans and, in this case, the 2010 Crozet Master Plan. The property under review is recommended for Neighborhood Density residential use. Two of the Crozet Vision and Guiding Principles are relevant to this request: 1. Existing neighborhoods and the Downtown area will be preserved; new or infill development will be appropriate in scale and type to these existing growth patterns. 7. Community facilities and services must accommodate the changing needs of the community as it grows over time. Because of the size, scale, and expected minimal impacts, staff believes that the existing neighborhood on St. George Avenue will be preserved while the school helps to accommodate a growing need for preschools in the community. Staff also notes that the Crozet Master Plan anticipates that daycare centers and preschools will be located in areas designated for Neighborhood Density residential: This designation represents residential areas with a desired density of 3 — 6 residential units per acre. It also represents existing residential areas within or below this range. Housing in this area is primarily single-family detached with some single-family attached/townhouses. Non-residential uses include institutional uses, such as places of worship, public and private schools, and early childhood education centers (daycare centers and preschools). Neighborhood -serving retail/commercial areas and office uses of less than 5, 000 square feet may be allowed by exception only in Neighborhood Density Residential areas located within half a block of Downtown along Blue Ridge Avenue and east of Firehouse Lane. SUMMARY: Staff has identified factors which are favorable and unfavorable to this proposal: Factors favorable to this request include: 1. The proposed use is consistent with the Crozet Master Plan. 2. The proposed use is located within the Development Areas and will help support new residential development in Crozet. Factors unfavorable to this request include: 1. The use will generate additional vehicular trips on St. George Avenue; however, a staggered drop off period will be used to better distribute traffic and reduce impacts with public school traffic. 2. Outdoor play by children will generate noise; however, the addition of a privacy fence and enlarged play area in the back yard of the church will help to attenuate impacts. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Based on the findings described in this staff report and factors identified as favorable, staff recommends approval of SP-2018-0006 Little Explorers Discover School, with the following conditions (note: minor modifications of wording may take place after County Attorney review): 1. The preschool and extended care/afterschool programs shall take place within the existing Crozet Baptist Church building except for outdoor play which shall take place within a fenced yard. 2. The maximum enrollment of children shall be 40 with no more than 25 students present at any time in both the preschool and extended care/afterschool programs. 3. Hours of operation for the preschool shall be between 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. except that occasional preschool - related events may occur after 5:00 p.m. SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School Planning Commission: August 14, 2018 Page 6 4. A staggered morning drop off period shall be employed by the owner to more evenly distribute traffic generated by the use across a one and one half our period. 5. After consultation with abutting property owners on materials and height but prior to beginning operation of the preschool or extended care/afterschool program, the owner of the property shall construct and maintain a privacy fence along the western and northern property lines. 6. If the construction of the use for which this Special Use Permit is issued is not commenced by (2 years from approval date by BOS), the permit shall be deemed abandoned and the authority granted there under shall thereupon terminate. MOTIONS: A. Should the Planning Commission choose to recommend approval of this special use permit: I move to recommend approval of SP2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School with the conditions outlined in the staff report. B. Should the Planning Commission choose to recommend denial of this special use permit: I move to recommend denial of SP2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School - (state reasons for denial). ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A — Location Map Attachment B — Applicant's Request Attachment C — Comments Received to date SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School Planning Commission: August 14, 2018 Page 7 ATTACH MENTA Location Map for Crozet Baptist Church and ja rozet ES 766 00 m Is Western Albemarle Rescue S:Juad IN Application for Special Use Permit IMPORTANT: Your application will be considered INCOMPLETE until all of the required attachments listed on page 2 have been submitted and the application signature is verified (see Page 3). Also, please see the list on page 4 for the appropriate fee(s) related to your application. t-1-•t� 2 relr� i s c ov2� 00 I ��x�� PROJECT NAME: (how should we refer to this application?) a ._�� ; c, t PROPOSAL/REQUEST: fO t en A. L- 0- sk\,k6er%+ pYeS rhos G F 'C' SC ilQp, eYT�e �Z ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION(S): EXISTING COMP PLAN LAND USE/DENSITY: LOCATION/ADDRESS OF PROPERTY FOR SPECIAL USE PERMIT: 5i$()ti St. C-Aeocige Ave. Grote+ VA 22-g3 2 TAX MAP PARCEL(s): 61W 0 S (aA 1 01_ - 0 0 - c7 U-0 0 ZONING DISTRICT: �Z -Fbt�r # OF ACRES TO BE COVERED BY SPECIAL USE PERMIT if a portion, it must be delineated on a plat): PePNO Is this an amendment to an existing Special Use Permit? If Yes provide that SP Number. SP- ❑ YES Are ou submittin a reliminar site lan with this a lication? ElYES C. Contact Person ( Who should we call/write concerning this project?): C l 1 i 1 -.A 1 G % l s e- �� e- Address L b1 D Seaver Crrc,.IL Min • 28 . City Crow+ State VA Zip Z Q 4 Daytime Phone L440) -7$ 1' (jq $ % Fax # (_) E-mail I i-f t le e X pl c re r� d i 5 c ove-y O Owner of Record Lr-ou Ir i5i �huy h yy�q� Cpm 9 Address 5 9 by Sk . 6einr4a A ale City C y i`7 e— I- State \/ A Zip -Zcl Z Daytime Phone 43 913 -5) lit Fax # (_) E-mail i r)-FO @ cr m-e'} C,1.-Auv-ON ® r•q Applicant (Who is the Contact person representing?): bn f sAA G- 1) � e,++e- .J1 Address I S TO beav e r ree k- min. ?A -City- C eo-Le-} State VA__ Zip 22-9 Z Z vC, Daytime Phone p \' 0� D , Fax # O E-mail Iififile 2k1 orerS d% 5 Cove r� Does the owner of this property own (or have any ownership interest in) any abutting property? if yes, mail . cc., please list those tax map and pdrcel numbers: '(hee(.h�xf (A) cwn5 bai-r, S830 a,ntA 580`I St Geccqe ,Axle_� �n e, s ame pox Ce 1 Y)�A m b-er, FOR OFFICE USE ONLY SP # SIGN # Fee Amount $ Date Paid By who? Receipt # Ck# By: ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION Concurrent review of Site Development Plan? YES NO County of Albemarle Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road Charlottesville, VA 22902 Voice: (434) 296-5832 Fax: (434) 972-4126 Special Use Permit Application Revised 4/23/2018 Page 1 of 4 Little Explorers Discovery School May 18, 2018 Project Proposal: The goal of Little Explorers Discovery School is to enroll families from mainly Crozet and the surrounding area. The community of Crozet is growing at a rapid pace, with housing market values rising near 10% in the past year. There are limited options for preschools in the immediate Crozet area, and many preschools have full enrollment with waiting lists for families. The need for additional preschool options and after school options is apparent in the Crozet area. The preschool will serve children ages 2-5 years old during the school day, and children 5-12 years old in an after -school enrichment program. The mission of the school is that children are a part of a unique experience where learning is student -driven and a love and appreciation for our world is fostered through a response to student curiosity and readiness. Leading educational approaches including Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, progressive education, and Finland's public education system will inspire the curriculum. This will offer a unique option for preschoolers in the Crozet area. Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan The Crozet Master Plan recommends this area for neighborhood density residential uses. Non-residential uses within this designation include institutional uses, such as places of worship, public and private schools, and early childhood education centers (daycare centers and preschools). • Additional information for coding the building for educational use, including the land use plan and master plan, has been provided by Richard Funk, architectural engineer. • Since the church is located in a development area, the additional usage of the building for the school will support the county's economical development plan by promoting new employment activities in the development area. • It will also support objective 6 of the comprehensive plan for development areas by increasing local business development opportunities, including support for entrepreneurial and startup businesses. • Additionally, our after school enrichment and tutoring program will strongly support Objective 7, as we will support and foster skills for children in grades K-6 by providing support for tutoring and enrichment in their schoolwork, in addition to programs in the areas of STEM, Family and Consumer Sciences, nature exploration, literacy, and history. Little Explorers Discovery School May 18, 2018 Impacts on public facilities and public infrastructure: The existing building is on public water/sewer and served by public streets and appears to have no impact on this infrastructure. Project's Impacts on Environmental Features The plan for changes to the outdoor area of the church is minimal. No trees or existing environmental features will be removed or torn down. A wooden fence may be erected in the future to increase safety in the outdoor play area. Smaller, toddler -sized play equipment may also be placed in the outdoor play area, close to the existing playground. The garden area may be utilized and expanded, enhancing the environmental features of the outdoor area. Proposed Ways to Address Impacts from the Project To reduce noise, children will have outdoor time in smaller groups by age. This will reduce the amount of children outside at one time. To reduce traffic, a pick-up line will be utilized at dismissal time. This will speed up the pick-up process and allow a staggered exit of traffic, as the next child in line will be getting loaded into the vehicle while the car in front exits. Additionally, the proposal for this preschool will limit the impact of the traffic on the residential area surrounding the church by allowing parents multiple options for drop-off and pick-up times (as listed below). Other information that may_ help identif y potential impacts of the development • Proposed Maximum Number of Students Enrolled: 40 • Maximum Number of Students present at one time: 25 o Half -day students: 15 o Full -day students: 10 o After -school students: 15 • Hours of operation: Tuesday through Friday, 7:30am-5:OOpm o Early drop off begins at 7 :30am. o Regular drop off begins at 8:30am. o Half -day preschool dismisses at 12:OOpm. o Full -day preschool dismisses at 3:OOpm. o Extended care and after -school program dismisses at S:OOpm. • No water/sewer demands M't: Elaine Echols From: Rebecca Kendall <rjskendall@gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2018 3:54 PM To: Kevin McDermott; Elaine Echols Cc: Cael Kendall Subject: Traffic calming on St. George in response to SUP 2018-00006 Hello Kevin - I am writing to you following a community meeting of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee to hear about Special Use Permit 2018-0006 for the Little Explorers Discovery School. There were eight residents in immediate vicinity of the Crozet Baptist Church who attended the CCAC meeting last week to express concern about the impact of increased traffic and safety needs related to this permit request. Elaine Echols and other CCAC members suggested that we contact you about traffic calming measures on Saint George Avenue. The following is the basis for our traffic concerns: • St. George Avenue is a quiet street of 52 homes in a designated historic neighborhood. This permit would bring up to 80 additional trips onto St. George for school purposes, significantly increasing traffic at key times, particularly when neighborhood children are going to school, and there are many pedestrians and children biking on the street. • Additional traffic during school time is a significant safety consideration as drop off for children at the Baptist Church would fall during the time when students from Crozet Elementary, Henley, Western, and Field School are either walking or biking to school or waiting for the bus on St. George. • While the County has worked to increase safe routes to school by expanding the sidewalk on Crozet Avenue, visibility from Saint George to Crozet Avenue is limited and increased traffic turning onto our quiet street (including parents who may be rushing to get to work) pose a risk to students who are walking and biking. • Currently sidewalks on St. George are not continuous, requiring pedestrians to frequently walk on the shoulder of the street. Our street is also a long, straight street connecting Crozet Avenue and Buck Road. There has been a significant increase in thru traffic in recent years, including dangerous speeding in excess of 50 mph on a semi - regular basis. My husband and I, and likely several of our neighbors, would like to explore traffic calming options to assure safety of neighborhood residents as a condition to any approved permit. Some of the items that we'd like to consider include: • Improved crosswalk visibility at St. George and Crozet Ave. • Improved signage — speed limit and school crossing on St. George and Crozet Avenue • Speed bumps or mobile speed signs • Coordination with Albemarle County School transportation division Thank you, Rebecca Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Brian Richter Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2018 5:34 PM To: Dave Stoner (davidastonerl@gmail.com) <davidastonerl@gmail.com>; 'eechols@albemarle.org' <eechols@albemarle.org> Cc: 'Martha Hodgkins' <martha.hodgkins@gmail.com> Subject: RE: Congratulations and Thanks! (Oh and Crozet Baptist Preschool Question) Hi Dave and Elaine, We'd be happy to speak with the applicant, but would first like to speak with you (Elaine) about this Special Use Permit process and what our options might be. We have very strong concerns about what this activity could do to one of Crozet's last remaining historic neighborhoods, and also to our use of our own property. The church built their playground 10 feet from our property line a couple of years ago, without any communication with us whatsoever; if the applicant plans to use that same playground in its current location there would be many issues and concerns to address. As Dave mentioned, we're on a very long road trip out West, but with some advance notice we can figure out a good time to talk. Thank you both for your attention to our concerns. Brian Richter & Martha Hodgkins Sustainable Waters Solutions in a Time of Scarcity Brian Richter, President 5834 St George Avenue, Crozet VA 22932 434-996-0147 www.sustainablewaters.org @SustainWater33 From: David Stoner <davidastonerl@gmail.com> Date: June 26, 2018 at 7:43:36 AM MDT To: Elaine Echols <EECHOLS@aIbemarle.ore> Cc: Brian Richter <brian@sustainablewaters.org>, Martha Hodgkins <martha.hodgkins@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Congratulations and Thanks! (Oh and Crozet Baptist Preschool Question) Brian & Martha — I wanted to put you in touch with Elaine Echols, the Planning Director for the County who is managing the Baptist Church preschool SUP application. See the highlighted info on Planning Commission hearing timing and request for your contact info. Elaine — Elaine Echols From: Long, Valerie <vlong@williamsmullen.com> Sent: Monday, July 16, 2018 5:52 PM To: Elaine Echols Subject: SP201800006 -- Preschool in Crozet Baptist Church Elaine: I want to reach out to you and express my very strong support for this application. I'm writing in my capacity as a resident of Crozet, and not on behalf of any client. There is a real shortage of quality, affordable child care all over the area, but particularly in Crozet. The use of Crozet Baptist Church for this purpose is a wonderful way to use space that is otherwise unused during the day. The Church has ample parking and plenty of room to accommodate drop-offs and pick-ups without queuing onto St. George Avenue. As for concerns that have been expressed about the noise from children playing, I would hope that the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors would agree that the sounds of young children playing and learning outside is a wonderful thing! As you may know, the Brownsville Elementary School after -care program is wonderful, but fills up incredibly fast, and there are very few other alternatives available. So the need is there for both pre-school education and for after -school care to support working parents and to provide quality and affordable care for the children of the community. Thank you for your consideration of my comments. Sincerely, Valerie Long Valerie Long 434-242-6792 6617 Welbourne Lane Crozet, VA 22932 Elaine Echols From: Brian Richter <brian@sustainablewaters.org> Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2018 5:16 PM To: David Stoner; Elaine Echols Cc: Martha Hodgkins; Cael Kendall; Rebecca Kendall; Linette Burton; Ann Mallek; Ann Mallek Subject: RE: Congratulations and Thanks! (Oh and Crozet Baptist Preschool Question) Hi Elaine, We're still very interested in speaking with you by phone. In particular, we would like to discuss the factors about this special use permit that fail to meet Albemarle County's requirements, as stated under "Five Reasonable Grounds to Deny a Special Use Permit" in the Albemarle County Land Use Law Handbook (page 12-10): Five Reasonable Grounds to Deny a Special Use Permit • The landowner fails to meet all of the requirements for the granting of the permit; even if all of the requirements satisfied, the decision -maker retains authority to deny the permit if sound zoning principles justify the decision. • The proposed use is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan. • The proposed use would have adverse impacts on the character of the neighborhood. • The proposed use would have adverse impacts on roads or create a hazardous traffic situation. • The proposed use would have an adverse impact on the abutting property. We and our neighbors have communicated that the application for the pre-school clearly fails on the last three bullets. The greatly increased traffic WILL create a hazardous situation for children, pets, and other residents of our neighborhood (already, we have repeatedly had to post "Drive Like Your Kids Live Here" signs and have requested installation of speed bumps to slow traffic; the greatly increased traffic associated with the pre-school will greatly exacerbate this problem). The creation of a new, highly visible and audible commercial business is clearly not in keeping with the National Historic District designation of the St. George neighborhood. And lastly but undeniably, this pre-school will adversely impact our property, with a playground situated less than 10 feet from our property line. Please let us know when we can speak by phone. As mentioned previously, we are traveling in the Western US, but with advance notice we can arrange a time to call. Sincerely, Brian Richter and Martha Hodgkins Sustainable Waters Solutions in a Time of Scarcity Brian Richter, President 5834 St George Avenue, Crozet VA 22932 434-996-0147 www.sustainablewaters.org @SustainWater33 Sustainable Waters Solutions in a Time of Scarcity Brian Richter, President 5834 St George Avenue, Crozet VA 22932 434-996-0147 www.sustainablewaters.org @SustainWater33 From: Christi Gillette <littleexplorersdiscovery@gmail.com> Sent: Friday, July 13, 2018 2:25 PM To: Brian Richter <brian@sustainablewaters.org>; martha.hodgkins@gmail.com Cc: Elaine Echols <eechols@albemarle.org>; Tracey <tracey@crozetchurch.org> Subject: Little Explorers Discovery School (Crozet Baptist Church) Hi there Brian and Martha, My name is Christi Gillette, and I am the owner of Little Explorers Discovery School. I want to start out by expressing our understanding and appreciation for your concerns that have been voiced through your neighbors as you are hopefully enjoying your time away. We understand that the idea of "40" children right next to your private backyard space is causing you much worry and frustration. I hope that I can shed at least the start of some light on that through this message, and I do hope that we can meet in person before too long to create a positive working relationship to ensure that we do not cause a major disruption to your life. As you know, the county has required a fence to be placed around the children's play area in order for the preschool to continue towards our special use permit. The church's buildings and grounds committee has already met to discuss the beginning details of this process, and we were hoping to work with you to decide on the details of the fence that will backup to your property. Elaine has communicated the concern about the property line, and I'm sure there are more details that we will come across to make the set up work for all of us. I am not in a position to be able to make specific promises on behalf of the church's property, but I will let you know that if extra work or financial costs to the play area are decided on by all parties, I am more than willing to make that sacrifice. In terms of any further structures that may go up, we would work in the opposite direction of your yard (in a perpendicular direction away from where your yard is located). Additionally, there will never be 40 children outside at one time. The maximum amount of children present at the school at one time will be 25, and the way we are planning to structure the day, the children will spend outdoor time in smaller groups. These numbers are not what we anticipate or even hope for as we open the school. I truly want you to understand that I want to be a great neighbor to you and the others around the church property. I would be glad to meet you in person whenever you are in town and available. I am heading out for family vacation this evening, but if you happen to be around today I could make time before we go. Otherwise, I could meet with you when we return. I'd also love for you to meet the other teachers that will be working with me. They are very nice ladies, and are also a part of our mission to provide a nurturing preschool experience that works in sync with the neighborhood. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at 440-781-0981 or by email. I look forward to speaking with you soon. Sincerely, Christi Gillette CH f ISTI GILLETTE chooi Director 440.781.0981 littleexpl orersd iscovery@gmail. corn LittleEx $rers DISCOVERY SCHOOL Elaine Echols From: David Collyer <david@crozetchurch.org> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2018 5:49 PM To: 'Brian Richter' Cc: Christi Gillette; Tracey Pugh; Elaine Echols Subject: Little Explorers Discovery School (Crozet Baptist Church) Dear Brian and Martha, Thank you for your recent response to Christi Gillette's email regarding the Little Explorers Discovery School. As you can imagine we are truly excited about the possibility of hosting this much needed service for families in the Crozet area. We are committed to helping Christi create a friendly and safe space for children to learn and grow. This includes identifying challenges to the success of the school, and working with our Crozet neighbors to find a solution for each. We are glad to consult with the two of you about safeguarding your property and your sense of privacy in our beautiful neighborhood. We were particularly saddened to hear that you had previous concerns that you felt were not heard. We are always willing to listen to and work with our neighbors to find a mutually satisfying conclusion to problems that arise. In this instance, we would love to chat with you further about building a privacy screen along our shared property boundary that will help to insure a peaceful space for you as children play on our playground. Please let us know your thoughts about such a fence. Looking forward to working with you on this project, T�av, CCU er Pastor, Crozet Baptist Church david@crozetchurch.org (434) 823-5171 x102 The owL� thn v�,O gnat couv�,ts is f,2Lth expressivuc� LtseLf tkrovck Love. c,,?LatLaws 5:0b 01FY�AL LIRG113t4+ COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road, North Wing Charlottesville, Virginia 22902-4596 Phone (434) 296-5832 Fax (434) 972-4126 August 24, 2018 Christie Gillette 1870 Beaver Creek Mtn. Rd Crozet, Va 22932 RE: SP201800006 Little Explorers Discovery School (Crozet Baptist Church) Dear Ms. Gillette, The Albemarle County Planning Commission, at its meeting on August 14, 2018, took the following actions on the above -noted petition making the following recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. 1. The preschool and extended care/afterschool programs shall take place within the existing Crozet Baptist Church building except for outdoor play which shall take place within a fenced yard. 2. The maximum enrollment of children shall be 40 with no more than 25 students present at any time in both the preschool and extended care/afterschool programs. 3. Hours of operation for the preschool shall be no earlier than 7:30 a.m. and no later than 5:30 p.m. except that occasional preschool -related events may occur after 5:30 p.m. 4. A staggered morning drops off period shall be employed by the owner to more evenly distribute traffic generated by the use across a one and one half our period. 5. After consultation with abutting property owners on materials, height and plantings prior to beginning operation of the preschool or extended care/afterschool program, the owner of the property shall construct and maintain a fence along the western and northern property lines. 6. If the construction of the use for which this Special Use Permit is issued is not commenced by (2 years from approval date by BOS), the permit shall be deemed abandoned and the authority granted there under shall thereupon terminate. If you should have any questions or comments regarding the above noted action, please do not hesitate to contact me at (434) 296-5832. Sincerely, Elaine Echols, AICP Chief of Planning Planning Division Albemarle County Planning Commission August 14, 2018 The Albemarle County Planning Commission held a public hearing on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, at 6:00 p.m., at the County Office Building, Lane Auditorium, Second Floor, 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. Members attending were Tim Keller, Chair, Julian Bivins, Jennie More and Daphne Spain, Karen Firehock, and Bruce Dotson. Luis Carrazana, UVA representative and Pam Riley, Vice - Chair were absent. Other officials present were Dan Mahon, Parks and Recreation; Andy Reitelbach, Planner; Cameron Langille, Senior Planner; Elaine Echols, Chief of Community Development; Bill Fritz, Manager of Special Projects; Sharon Taylor, Clerk to Planning Commission and Andy Herrick, Assistant County Attorney. Call to Order and Establish Quorum Mr. Keller, Chair, called the regular meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and established a quorum. The meeting moved to the next agenda item. Public Hearing Item. SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School (Crozet Baptist Church) MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: White Hall TAX MAP/PARCEL: 056A1-01-00-08200 LOCATION: 5804 St. George Avenue PROPOSAL: Preschool/After School program for up to 40 students PETITION: Request for day care, childcare or nursery facility in accordance with Section 14.2.2.7 of the Zoning Ordinance on 2.25 acres. No residential use is proposed. ZONING: R2 Residential which allows 2 dwelling units/acre and institutional and public uses. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Neighborhood Density Residential which allows 3-6 units /acre; supporting uses such as religious institutions, schools and other small-scale non-residential uses in the Community of Crozet. (Elaine Echols) Ms. Echols summarized the staff report in a PowerPoint presentation. This is a special use permit for a preschool and childcare facility with a preschool and afterschool program that is located at 5804 St. George Avenue in Crozet at the Crozet Baptist Church. The property is zoned R-2, Residential and that allows childcare facilities by special use permit. The Crozet Master Plan recommends this area for Neighborhood Density Residential, which also includes places of worship and childcare facilities. The preschool is proposed for a 40 children maximum enrollment with not more than 25 at any given time there. The hours of operation are 7:30 to 5 p.m. and you will notice in the recommended conditions we moved that to 5:30 p.m. just to give a little more room for working parents who need to pick their children up. The building at the rear and the side of the church is for indoor instruction and in the back yard is intended for outdoor play. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 DRAFT MINUTES — 18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School This is in an existing neighborhood that is mostly residential. These are some photographs, they do not really include some sidewalks that exist on the south side of St. George Avenue, and she would show them one of those in just a minute. It is an interesting neighborhood the lots are fairly deep and the houses are setback fairly deeply. There are varieties of uses along here mostly residential, but a funeral home and another church is further up the street towards the west. The residents who came to the community meeting talked to us about some speeding problems that exist and there were signs they have put out to try to encourage people who drive on this road not to speed but to drive like your kids live here. There are some sidewalks on the south side of the road from Crozet Avenue up to the church. This sidewalk is across the street from the church into the parking lot. This neighborhood is also at the exterior of the Crozet Historic District, which is a National Register Historic District and some of the people who have been in touch with you have noted the location in the Historic District. The back yard play area is one of those places where we have had people question what is going on and how it is going on. Therefore, she went out and took some photographs. If you were looking from the church to the back yard she pointed out in the photo that this is what you would see - a picnic table and a dense screen. This is a side view of that same screen. There is a place that is near the western property line she believes you have heard from the adjoining property owner about that playset. There have been some concerns expressed by neighbors at the community meeting and she believes you have received some emails. Staff included some of the letters in our packets. The major concerns are that there is an addition of a business to a residential neighborhood; the use is going to increase traffic on a neighborhood street where there are already some speeding problems; noise from outdoor play; loss of privacy for this particular property owner and the property owner to the back is going to lose some enjoyment of their property. There is a large Oak tree that sits right on the property line. This is the fencing area establishing that playground equipment shown in a previous picture and the distance is maybe ten feet. Staff has heard comments from other residents in Crozet and not all the comments have been negative. There were people at the community meeting who expressed the importance for providing more childcare opportunities in Crozet. Other ones said that while it feels like this might be intrusive to the neighborhood in fact there are many churches that have pre-schools and childcare programs where you really do not even notice that they are there. Staff heard from other people asking why the operation could not be Monday through Friday instead of Tuesday through Friday. The applicant has talked to us about the possibility of making this a Monday through Friday for the afterschool program. At the community meeting the church expressed their desire to not have the pre-school open on Monday; they have their own program on Monday morning and so they were not making that available to the applicant. However, an afterschool program is being discussed. Regarding traffic, there is an interesting thing with the traffic counts on this road at this location. In 2000, there were 720 vehicle trips per day that were recorded in 2012, lower than that at 560 vehicle trips per day, speculation maybe there has been a change in activity related to the church, maybe in the funeral home or any number of things could be the reason for this — we don't know. There would be approximately three vehicular round trips during the peak hours 7 to 9 a.m.; they are proposed to be staggered and that is something the applicant offered at the very beginning. However, in reality that is how drop off occurs for early morning care. Not all parents who are dropping their children off work; not all children are staying for the whole day and sometimes there are ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School just programs there that people want to take their children to; sometimes children don't show up so it is not something that is just everybody arrives at the same time. - The question about the speeding is something that one of the neighbors in particular has been in touch with our transportation planner about and he has committed to work with the neighborhood on finding ways to reduce the speeding and make for a safer situation for the street itself. - With regards to noise, the applicant indicated at the community meeting that there would only be one class on the playground at a time so it would not be as all 25 children would be outside playing on the playground at the same time so the noise should not be overwhelming. In addition, the full use of the backyard is proposed not just that area around the playset. - The privacy and keeping children on site - the church is proposing a privacy fence and in conversations, they said the church had wanted to put up a privacy fence for a long time. The neighbor next door is not too keen on a privacy fence; they want the church to move the playset. Staff was looking at the privacy aspect anticipating that the church would be putting up a fence and wanted them to consult the neighbors on height and materials before putting something up in hopes that between neighbors they could figure something out that would work well. Ms. Echols said she did not know if they can but we were trying to step back and talk about how the impacts might be mitigated. - In terms of neighborhood character, there are some concerns by neighbors that the character of the neighborhood will be changed because of this use. Ms. Echols noted that many religious institutions operate preschools and there are already existing businesses in the neighborhood. She said whether there is going to be a change is a judgement call and the Commission along with the Board of Supervisors would be deciding whether the level of change being proposed is such that it would result in a change in character of this particular neighborhood. SUMMARY: Staff has identified factors which are favorable and unfavorable to this proposal: Factors favorable to this request include: 1. The proposed use is consistent with the Crozet Master Plan in terms of land use. 2. The proposed use is located within the Development Areas and will help support new residential development in Crozet where is need for young working parents to have more opportunities for preschools and daycares. Factors unfavorable to this request include: 1. The use will generate additional vehicular trips on St. George Avenue; however, a staggered drop off period will be used to better distribute traffic and reduce impacts with public school traffic. 2. Outdoor play by children will generate noise; however, the addition of a privacy fence and enlarged play area in the back yard of the church will help to attenuate impacts from the noise and a screen for the activity that might take place. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Based on the findings described in this staff report and factors identified as favorable, staff recommends approval of SP-2018-0006 Little Explorers Discovery School, with the conditions as outlined in the staff report. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School Ms. Echols said if you have any questions, she would try to answer them Mr. Keller invited questions for staff. Mr. Dotson said you had a slide that showed the proximity of the play area to the property line and asked Ms. Echols to put that up again so we can see exactly where it is located and if staff had said that the play area was as close as 10 feet. Ms. Echols pointed out the property line and that the corner is about 10' to the property line and the equipment is a little bit further. She said from a standpoint of the visibility of the use that the church wants to put a fence around the play area regardless of what happens because they want the children to be in this area and not outside of the play area if they are going to be playing on the equipment. She said there are members of the church who can speak to that but this is the proximity. Mr. Dotson asked if the Oak tree is on the property line and if the playhouse was on the church property or on the abutting residential. Ms. Echols responded that she did not know the answer to that question but was sure the church members can tell us. Mr. Keller invited other questions. Hearing none, he opened the public hearing and invited the applicant to come forward and present and then the public will speak and Ms. Firehock will run that portion. Christie Gillette, Director and future owner of Little Explorers Discovery School, said over the past two months or since we had our community meeting, we have had a lot of correspondence with the neighbors regarding their concerns. Ms. Gillette said she wanted to start by reiterating how much we really understand that and just in considering if she were to be a community member living in that neighborhood the idea of 40 cars backed up on my street, people speeding and 25 children outside screaming and running around chaotically also would scare me. Ms. Gillette said so we understand that and wants to explain how that is definitely not the image that we are going for with the school. Ms. Gillette said as Elaine said there are very limited options in Crozet and even more limited options for working families in terms of preschool and especially afterschool programs. She said the school would serve children 2 to 5 years old for the preschool program and 5 to 10 years old for the afterschool program. She said if approved we will use the children's wing and that is already set up with five classrooms already equipped to accommodate 20 or more children than our 40 allowable in our maximum enrollment. She said our goal is to blend in with the community by working together to limit those negative impacts and add positive and enriching educational opportunities for local families in Crozet and the surrounding area. Ms. Gillette pointed out that her presentation lays out how we will address the traffic and the noise, and so that 40 students being our absolute maximum, which includes all the children all day long including the afterschool children. She said at 7:30 a.m. we are estimating that 5 to 10 children show up, and then 8:30 a.m. would be our regular drop off time for preschool and we are estimating 10 to 15 children at that point. She said that is when our learning day begins so that is when we would have structured routine rotating children outside in small groups of an estimate of 6 to 10 children between 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. She said 11:30 a.m. would be lunchtime so we would head back inside. She said at 12:00 p.m. 10 to 15 children would be dismissed, which would be our one-half day preschool children. She said between 11:30 a.m. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 4 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School and 2:30 p.m. the children are not outside at all. She said that 5 to 10 children would remain after the one-half day children are dismissed. Ms. Gillette said at 11:30 a.m. the children come in for lunch, story time, quiet time and nap time and so there is a good chunk of the middle of the day where there is no noise whatsoever outside. She said at 2:30 p.m. the afterschool children would arrive with one trip on the road by bus. She said those children come and we have a maximum of 25 children but we are anticipating that outside there is only 8 to 10 children with the way we would rotate outside. She said at 3:00 p.m. the preschool ends for the day and so any children that are not staying for aftercare that the rest of the preschool children would be dismissed at 3:00 p.m. She said at 5:30 p.m. afterschool care and aftercare for the preschool concludes so all of the children would be gone. However, that would be between 2:30 p.m. when the afterschool children get there and 5:30 p.m. because parents are going to come when they get off work. Ms. Gillette said in conclusion the maximum possible number of cars on the road would have to be at that 8:30 a.m. time and that would be 22 cars because 3 of the teachers already have children and that could end up being more as we hire more teachers. She said at 8:30 a.m. if no children are enrolled in before care nobody has siblings and nobody is carpooling there would be 22 cars on the road assuming we have maximized enrollment. She said to further address traffic, in addition to those staggered times the drop off, pick up line would be utilized, and you can see in the picture they can do a nice loop there and keep traffic moving. She pointed out the church's main parking lot area, which is the greatest distance from any of the surrounding neighbors. She said additionally we plan to provide parents with information upon enrollment just so they are aware of the character of the St. George Avenue neighborhood and the speed limit with all of that information and if it becomes an issue as needed thereafter. Ms. Gillette said to address the outside noise and the safety, again the children would be in smaller groups and the fence would be constructed with the privacy fence around the north and west boundary lines. She said the church has already taken steps to work with the neighbors on the details of this fence to ensure privacy and safety. She said to point out our curriculum it encourages the curiosity of nature and learning in the outdoors so the teachers create that sense of learning and discovery versus just letting them go free and run chaotically that will facilitate a lot of our outdoor time. She said so hopefully that would also keep the noise down and keep the character of the neighborhood preserved. She said qualified trained staff will closely monitor children and the goal is to keep ratios under the legal limits as well so that will help with the noise and the safety. Ms. Gillette said finally so our maximum number of 40 and she chose the number of 40 thinking she did not want to grow above 40 but if we are successful and actually get to that number 40 she would prefer to move to my own location and that is that number of years. Ms. Gillette said she would prefer to do that before maximizing that enrollment number. Ms. Gillette said the most important point is she has been a teacher for 7 years and had a degree in Special Education so was qualified to teach and business is a new endeavor for me so she did not want to start with 40 children and would like to start small. She said in conclusion 7 to 10 children playing and learning and 10 to 15 cars at one time looks a whole lot different from 25 screaming out of control children and a traffic jam of 40 cars and we prefer the former option. Mr. Keller said we would hold the questions until after the public comment. Ms. Firehock invited public comment. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 5 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School David Collier, Pastor of Crozet Baptist Church, said he wanted to thank the Commissioners for considering this request and allowing me to speak today. He said that for over 100 years Crozet Baptist Church has been a positive presence in Western Albemarle County. He said during that time it has been one of our top priorities to serve our community and to share the love of God with our neighbors. He said we want to make Crozet a better place to live because we are also there. He said that most of our active membership in fact lives within a few miles of our facilities so we know the area. He said our members are involved in community conversations and in local projects and we keep our eyes open for opportunities to meet a need. He said we saw that even with all of the wonderful schools that are already present in Crozet there is still a need for preschool and afterschool care for children and families in our area. He said that is why we were excited when Ms. Gillette came to us with the idea of beginning a school in our building and that is why we voted unanimously as a congregation in our most business meeting to allow her to do that. He said that is why even though we will not have any ownership or direct participation in leadership in the school we are happy to collaborate with her in this endeavor. He said we see this as one more opportunity to be a positive presence to serve the community and to share love with our neighbors and so urged you to give Christy and us a chance to meet this need. He thanked the Commission and offered to answer questions. David Stoners said he was a resident of 6054 Rockfish Gap Turnpike, Greenwood, Virginia and was here speaking on behalf of Brian Richter and Martha Hodgkins the neighbors immediately to the west of the property. He said the Commission received an email from Brian and Martha; he is a good friend of theirs and was here speaking on their since they were not able to attend the Planning Commission meeting. He said in the interest of time he was just going to read and paraphrase some brief excerpts from that as a way to try to illustrate and emphasize some of their concerns. He said that Elaine did a good job both here tonight and in the staff report summarizing the issues and some of their concerns and issues both pro and con as far as the proposal. He said again I paraphrase from their note to you, "We are writing you in response to the application for a Special Use Permit submitted by the Little Explorers Discovery School to establish a commercial pre-school operation on the Crozet Baptist Church property on St. George Avenue in Crozet. We and several neighbors are very concerned about the increased traffic that will result, as well as the impacts to our historic neighborhood. Additionally, as the only immediate neighbor to the church's backyard area, we have the most to lose from the siting of this pre-school operation, which would immediately impact our immediately adjacent quiet backyard. With reference to the Albemarle County Land Use Law Handbook (pages 12-10), we emphasize that there are three factors about this Special Use Permit that fail to meet Albemarle County's requirements. Again, I paraphrase. The proposed use would an adverse impact on roads or create a hazardous traffic situation. This greatly increased traffic on our quiet residential street will create a hazardous situation for children, pets, and other residents. Number two, the proposed use will have an adverse effect on the character of the neighborhood. The creation of a new and highly audible commercial business that will increase traffic on a short residential street is clearly not in keeping with the National Historic District designation of St. George Avenue and neighborhood. Thirdly, the proposed use will have an adverse impact on our abutting property. We have enjoyed the quiet use of our backyard and are concerned about the noise created by the preschool as well as an obvious need for a fence." Mr. Stoner said the one additional thing that he would add is from some correspondence between Mr. Richter and Mr. Collier: "Any reasonable resolution of this issue will necessarily require relocation of the playground to create a respective distance from our property line. The original placement of the playground site right up against our property line and built in 2010 without any consultation with us was frankly offensive. We are not interested in a large privacy fence and tall ugly fencing is not what we would like nor accept. We would like to discuss other fencing like picket possibly in conjunction with the relocation of the ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School playground and vegetation with screening. One suggestion I would have is maybe amending condition 5 to require relocation of the playground further away from the line. Thank you very much." Ms. Firehock invited further public comment. Hearing none, Mr. Keller invited the applicant to come back up. Mr. Keller invited comment from Ms. Gillette. Ms. Gillette replied that she did not have anything further to add Mr. Keller invited questions for the applicant. Mr. Dotson said he had a question for the church. He said again on the question of the closeness to their property line we have heard a neighbor indicate the possibility of relocating the play area and he assumed that would pull it closer to the building and further from their property line. He asked do you have thoughts on that. David Collier responded that we are and have already been in conversation with our neighbors and we really do want to make this good for all of us. He said that moving that playground because of the nature of being set in concrete and those sort of things is an unreasonable expectation. He said also as we move closer to the church the land slopes down towards our church and that is the level spot in our backyard so it would be very difficult for us to do that. Mr. Dotson said the other question is about the tree house and is that on the church's property or the neighbor's property. Mr. Collier said if he could give a brief history, a member of our church built it about 20 to 25 years ago for the son of our pastor who was living in the house in which the playground is the back yard. He said at the time the next -door neighbor was also a member of our church so we really did not have that issue or question. He said perhaps two-thirds to three-quarters is over on our side of the line and maybe a quarter over on the neighbor's side. Mr. Dotson said the related question is if it is every used and do children ever use it. Mr. Collier responded that in fact he thinks that was a point of contingent and we did not mean for it to be, but it turned out to be. He said when we built the playground there was a ladder up to the tree fort and we removed the ladder for safety reasons since we did not want any children climbing up and being in the fort. Mr. Gillette asked to add something about the playground in terms of the preschool. She said my son being almost two years old that he is too little to use the playground and she suspects he will be for a while so actually she did not anticipate us using it too much but maybe with the oldest of the preschool crew in the morning. Ms. Gillette said she foresees more of the afterschool program using that playground and then us bringing more toddler sized play structures to the other part of the play yard further away from those neighbors. Ms. More said you kind of answered one of my first questions and that was when you talk about the type of play that you will have outside it sounds like it is not just a let them go on the playground and everyone sits backs and watch; that you will engaging in some interactive play which would occur elsewhere than the playground. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 7 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School Ms. Gillette replied yes Ms. More said at the community meeting she had heard that there was a concern that the playground was actually encroaching on the property and can you clarify that it is not since it is my understanding that it is actually setback. Ms. Echols responded that it is setback and thinks there is a feeling that it is right on the property line but it is not right on the property line and it is about 10 feet off the owners of the property next door. She said there has been a question about where that property boundary is and she walked it with the church. She said the neighbors also told me there was a survey done so that the county's property maps were not correct and that the next door neighbor's property line is right there next to the tree. She said there was a question about that and she would try to get the image from the staff report on line. Ms. More said she had some thoughts and was very sensitive as you put it in the beginning to the change in the neighborhood, the noise of children playing does not really bother me but she lives with it all the time. However, she understands the concerns for the traffic and the things like this but what she heard in the community meeting was a great willingness on part to work with doing this sort of staggering is a very creative approach to disburse traffic so she really likes that. She said not only does it disperse the traffic but it hits a bunch of different needs that the community has that some other facilities don't offer and they just have the pick up and drop off at noon time. She said that is a creative solution that also is addressing a need that the community has. She suggested they explore the fencing because she had heard that there is a great desire on the part of the church and your organization to try to make that work the best for the neighbors and can understand why if they are talking about a picket fence and the church is imaging something taller if it would be possible to have on their property line something that is more in keeping with their vision to possibly plant screening that would give them that look and feel and not this tall stark fence with fence on the other parts of the property. She said that is something worth exploring that on that shared property line that might make that feel a little bit more softer to them and not this tall big one colored fence and something more like what they are talking about but then putting the vegetation in for screening. She said that is an alternative because it sounds like moving the playground is costly and not an option so would be an option that you could explore. She asked if they are going to have something visible on St. George Avenue. Ms. Gillette replied that she was told to hold off on that when she asked but does not know the details of what that entails. Ms. More said my thought there was for traffic calming measures she feels that having people see a sign that there is a preschool there - my personal take on this particular neighborhood is that most of the people that speed through there are cutting through to get to somewhere else and those are the people that we need to have traffic calming measures to address. She said it sounds like the transportation planner is going to work with you and that is a great step for the neighborhood in general and as a whole. She said it is a popular cut through street and having the signage out there that there is a preschool and the children at play type of signs that other preschools put out at drop off and pick up might help alert drivers that don't live there that this is a use that is happening which is a trigger to slow down. She said any type of signage would be helpful in calming traffic. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School Ms. Firehock said she had done a lot of work on park design and trying to direct kids where we do and don't want them and have used tactics such as prickly Holly bushes to keep them out of areas. She said that also helps with softening with sound as well as barriers so there is a lot that can be done with design to probably come up with something that is not making both sides feel like they are in a jail of some kind. She said one question is about the playground because she really wants to focus on that. Ms. Firehock said it is a great use; it is a church and if she was living next door would expect weddings, services and various things to be going on. However, she understands looking at Mr. Richter as the neighbor that he probably does a lot of work at home and so he is trying to think about his quiet to do his work. She said the question is to get to the playground appropriate for the toddlers/little kids or is that only going to be for the older kids. Ms. Gillette replied that is not appropriate for the toddler age since it was pretty high and dangerous and so she really does not anticipate using it very much for the preschool. Ms. Firehock said she was wondering if it would be possible to say something along the lines that you would not be using it before whatever that time that the afterschool kids show up. She said that would give at least give them some kind of notion but did not know what the time would be — from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. it will be quiet so if he wanted to have a conference call with a client he would not have gigglers and screamers. She said no matter what you are doing or how you are guiding them there is always that child with a high pitch voice so she was really sympathetic to that. She said that a lot more work could be done to work on the sound absorption material, vegetation, fence style, design and then perhaps actually going ahead and limiting, it with a condition that we would consider to say that nobody will play on that playground until X hour and then maybe it is only an hour or two of the afternoon that somebody is out there giggling. Ms. Gillette responded that made sense Ms. Spain agreed with the comments from my colleagues and she particularly agree with Commissioner More about the positive effects of a sign perhaps slowing down traffic. She said the speeding traffic is an issue independent of the school and if anything it could be a buffer and so would think from that standpoint that it would be to the advantage of the neighborhood. She said but living in a neighborhood with a speeding problem myself and having worked with the transportation planner and such that it requires constant vigilance so she did not take that into consideration when thinking about your application because that is an independent issue. Mr. Bivins asked staff if this was a preschool program under the church would we be having this meeting today. Ms. Elaine asked to defer the question to the county attorney. Mr. Andy Herrick replied that it would still require a special use permit for a daycare since daycare is a separate use that is only allowed by a special use permit under the County Code. Mr. Bivins asked if the house to the street from St. George occupied, and Mr. Collier replied yes. Mr. Bivins asked does that house have children in it, and Mr. Collier replied that it does not but it could conceivably have children, yes. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 9 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School Mr. Bivins said if we could go to the neighbor's property, there is a structure in the back and asked if that is your neighbor's office or is that structure used. Mr. Collier replied that is a rental space over the garage. Mr. Bivins said so that is an auxiliary use and so we are talking about the distance from the Commented [sT11: house that is on the road to the playground that is the issue here. He said in between there is a house that is occupied and presently they do not have children but the next tenant could. He said the issue is not necessarily about the daycare but about how do we have an environment that somebody could work from home regardless of whether or not you have four kids or a family with numerous kids outside throughout the day since they could possibly be homeschooled. He said so that is the piece he is trying to work through and he thinks they are being very generous because of the fact of putting a fence in and doing that particularly when the playground is here but the structure is at the front of the house and that it is limited time. Mr. Bivins said he was struggling about how much of a nuisance that we really have here, but he understands that someone's lifestyle may be changed and understands that particularly having worked at home myself, but the church has ongoing activities such as funerals, weddings, Sunday School and Bible School. Mr. Herrick pointed out the religious use of the church does not require a special use permit since it really is an assembly and all the events for funerals, weddings, religious services and so forth are already by right uses in this zone; it is just the establishment of a daycare that would require a special use permit. Mr. Keller said the Commissioner was making the point that all of those uses are by right and they could be making noise in their own way without needing a special use permit. Mr. Herrick said he thought the concern was that there might be a need for additional permission to do the things that a church is already allowed to do. Mr. Keller invited additional questions for the applicant or church. Hearing none, he closed the public hearing to bring it back for discussion and action. Mr. Bivins said he would hope that given that we have the spirit of this congregation and he thinks the spirit of the person who is leasing the space that the one thing that they are going to want to do is to make this a win/win for everyone. He said, as we know in small communities if people are uncomfortable then they do not go to places and he thinks it may be that the church has to enclose the playground anyhow. He said that might be part of the licensing and the insurance requirements and so there is a piece of that which may have to happen as a result of having this activity there — but he would hope we would let them work this out in a cooperation as opposed to us being too prescriptive. Ms. More agreed and what she hears is a willingness to work on coming up with the best solution within reason and that being too specific is not necessary. She said there were some points in staff's report that are very important that these are community facilities and services that are trying to accommodate the changing needs of our community as it grows and staff notes in the Crozet Master Plan they anticipate daycare centers and preschools will be located within these designated areas. She said this area has a designation of 3 to 6 residential units and fortunately, for them it is a very quiet one mostly single-family detached homes. Ms. More said that is a very quiet street and she was sensitive to any traffic impacts but finds what is proposed here to be very minimal and in all the scenarios she has seen this is something that ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 10 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School she would think is very doable and actually could create some traffic calming measures for those. She said as staff pointed out the speeding may be an issue that is already happening in this neighborhood and this could help the county and this group and the neighbors work together to come up with solutions that needed to be achieved in any cause. Mr. Firehock said she had already made comments and would lean more to what she suggested earlier to condition this that they have not used the older kid playset during the morning. Ms. Firehock said she understood it was a church but it was a different thing to have daycare going on all day, but it might add comfort even though in practical reality it would not happen anyway. Ms. Spain said she was pleased church to know that the church is willing to work with the applicant on this and thinks this is the third request we have heard from a church to include daycare facilities. She said in the Pantops area that Broadus Baptist Church has done this. She said we are as a society we are increasingly dependent on churches and other civil institutions to in a way substantivize these services that are very important not just for a quality of life but for economic being for families and on record wanted to say she appreciates the work that the church is doing. Mr. Keller said he agreed with his colleagues all around except for the restriction on that play equipment in the morning. However, he agreed with Ms. Firehock's point that vegetation can be a sound absorption mechanism and that would fit in with the historic neighborhood. He said that as a designer he would encourage the church to think about the type of fencing if it does need to require fencing and that it is appropriate for an institutional setting. He said that is primarily not wood, but that a painted picket fence could conceivably fit in but by nature it is more of an open metal sort of fencing that would separate the children and not have them be able to go into an area where they could be hurt, runaway or whatever. He said that the vegetation really needs to serve as the visual buffer, but the fence scale be more the way the neighbor had proposed. He said of course that takes us away from one of my particular concerns in our society where people put fences up backwards and put the nice side in instead of out. He said historically it was meant to be that there the finished side was out. He said if the church elects to do a wood fence that it should be solid and would hope if you do that you put the proper side towards the neighbor and the proper side towards you. He said that otherwise all the points made about the traffic is really outside the preview of this applicant and the special use permit issues. He said we really do want to see the kinds of facilities the churches are providing through the afterschool, daycare and those sorts of things and we applaud the institutions that are doing that. Mr. Keller said that because it was a special use and that special use is changing what will run with that land into the future we have a responsibility to think about that seriously and that is why we have taken as much time as a group on that discussion. Ms. Echols suggested that it seems like most of you would be interested in something as a condition for the fence and was wondering if this might satisfy everyone and that is for number five, "After consultation with abutting property owners on materials and height but prior to beginning operation of the preschool or the extended care afterschool program the owner shall construct and maintain a fence which may be a vegetated screen along the western and northern property lines." Mr. Dotson said that he did not want to get into the details other than he thinks that the spirit of the vegetation was not to substitute for a fence but in conjunction with a fence in order to maintain sort of the greenery and he was not sure the wording you gave us accomplished that. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 11 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School Mr. Keller agreed. Ms. More asked are we saying leave it as it is. Ms. Echols said she was worried about leaving the word "privacy" in there. Mr. Herrick suggested the deletion of the word "privacy". Ms. Echols asked if that would work for you, but it does not get vegetation in but it does leave open that possibility certainly. Mr. Keller asked Ms. Echols to restate the condition. Ms. Echols said it is what is written there in number 5 and it would be to basically take out the words, "to maintain a fence" and would be to, "Construct and maintain a fence along the western and northern property lines." Mr. Dotson asked might it include at the beginning after consultation with abutting property owners on material, height and plantings. Mr. Keller said that he thinks that does it. Mr. Bivins said that is in consultation but the consulting does not become a no, so at some point if the neighbor feels that they are hearing what they desire to hear that does not stop the process from going forward. Mr. Dotson said that was a good point. Ms. Firehock pointed out that it says after consultation, it does not say after approval. Mr. Bivins replied that he understands but just wants to be clear that is what we are agreeing to. Mr. Keller said we are hoping the neighbors can work it out since that is out of our realm. Mr. Keller asked if we are ready to go back to a motion. Ms. More moved to recommend approval of SP-2018-00006 Little Explorers Discovery School with the conditions outlined in the staff report with changes in #5 to read after consultation with abutting property owners on materials, height and plantings prior to beginning operation of the preschool or extended care after school program, the owner of the property shall construct and maintain a fence along the western and northern property lines. Mr. Dotson noted one other minor point in condition #3 the staff indicated instead of 5:00 p.m. it should say 5:30 p.m. Mr. Dotson seconded the motion. Mr. Keller invited further discussion. Ms. More asked if the 5:30 p.m. change would be captured. Mr. Herrick asked Ms. More if she agreed with the friendly amendment. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 12 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School Ms. More replied absolutely. Mr. Herrick asked the Commission to vote on the friendly amendment. Mr. Keller asked if that vote needed to be recorded or can we just do that amongst ourselves. Mr. Herrick replied as long as the friendly amendment is agreed to what you would be voting on is the motion as amended. Mr. Keller asked for a motion to accept the friendly amendment. Ms. More moved to accept the friendly amendment. Ms. Firehock seconded the motion. The Planning Commission unanimously accepted the friendly amendment by 6:0 (Riley absent). Mr. Keller asked if there was any further discussion. Hearing none, he asked Ms. Taylor if she had the 5:30 p.m. change and to call the roll. The motion was approved by a vote of 6:0 (Riley absent). Mr. Keller thanked the applicants and neighbors and the church for providing the facility, the applicant for providing this service and to the neighbor for offering some thoughtful areas for discussion because we hear a lot of these and these are things that we will be taking forward to other similar kinds of discussion as well. He said we wish you all well in reaching a conclusion that is positive. Ms. Echols said she failed to introduce a new planner in our office, Andy Reitelbach and he will be assisting David Benish in taking this to the Board of Supervisors. The Commission welcomed Andy Reitelbach. The meeting moved to the next item. The Planning Commission recessed at 7:41 pm and the meeting reconvened at 7:47 p.m. ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION —AUGUST 14, 2018 13 DRAFT MINUTES —18 443 Little Explorers Discovery School ATTACHMENT D MINOR MODIFICATIONS TO PC RECOMMENDED CONDITIONS 1. The preschool and extended care/afterschool programs shall take place within the existing Crozet Baptist Church building except for outdoor play which shall take place within a fenced yard. 2. The maximum enrollment of children shall be 40 with no more than 25 students present at any time in both the preschool and extended care/afterschool programs. 3. Hours of operation for the preschool shall be betweeR earlier than 7:30 a.m. to and not later than 5:30 p.m. except that occasional preschool -related events may occur after 5:30 p.m. 4. A staggered morning drop off period shall be employed by the owner to more evenly distribute traffic generated by the use across a one and one half our period. 5. After consultation with abutting property owners on materials, height, and plantings but prior to beginning operation of the preschool or extended care/afterschool program, the owner of the property shall construct and maintain a fence along the western and northern property lines. 6. If the construction of the use for which this Special Use Permit is issued is not commenced by (2 years from approval date by BOS), the permit shall be deemed abandoned and the authority granted there under shall thereupon terminate. RESOLUTION TO APPROVE SP 2018-06 LITTLE EXPLORERS DISCOVERY SCHOOL (CROZET BAPTIST CHURCH) WHEREAS, the Owner of Tax Map Parcel 056AI-01-00-08200 filed an application to establish a day care facility at the Crozet Baptist Church property located at 5804 St. George Avenue in Crozet and the application is identified as Special Use Permit 2018-06 Little Explorers Discovery School (Crozet Baptist Church) ("SP 2018-06"); and WHEREAS, on August 14, 2018, after a duly noticed public hearing, the Albemarle County Planning Commission recommended approval of SP 2018-06 with conditions; and WHEREAS, on October 10, 2018, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors held a duly noticed public hearing on SP 2018-06. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that, upon consideration of the foregoing, the staff report prepared for SP 2018-06 and all of its attachments, the information presented at the public hearing, any written comments received, and the factors relevant to a special use permit in Albemarle County Code § § 18- 22.2.2(13) and 18-33.40, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors hereby approves SP 2018-06, subject to the conditions attached hereto. I, Claudette K. Borgersen, do hereby certify that the foregoing writing is a true, correct copy of a Resolution duly adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County, Virginia, by a vote of to , as recorded below, at a regular meeting held on Clerk, Board of County Supervisors Ave t Mr. Dill Mr. Gallaway Ms. Mallek Ms. McKeel Ms. Palmer Mr. Randolph SP-2018-06 Little Explorers Discovery School (Crozet Baptist Church) Special Use Permit Conditions 1. The preschool and extended care/afterschool programs shall take place within the existing Crozet Baptist Church building except for outdoor play which shall take place within a fenced yard. 2. The maximum enrollment of children shall be 40 with no more than 25 children present at any time in both the preschool and extended care/afterschool programs. 3. Hours of operation for the preschool shall be no earlier than 7:30 a.m. and not later than 5:30 p.m. except that occasional preschool -related events may occur after 5:30 p.m. 4. A staggered morning drop off period shall be employed by the owner to more evenly distribute traffic generated by the use across a one and one half our period. 5. After consultation with abutting property owners on materials, height, and plantings but prior to beginning operation of the preschool or extended care/afterschool program, the owner of the property shall construct and maintain a fence along the western and northern property lines. 6. If the construction of the use for which this Special Use Permit is issued is not commenced by October 20, 2020, the permit shall be deemed abandoned and the authority granted there under shall thereupon terminate.