HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP200600042 Legacy Document 2007-04-06COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE
PLANNING STAFF REPORT SUMMARY
Project Name: SP2006-42 Charlottesville Day
Staff: Judith C. Wiegand
School
Planning Commission Public Hearing:
Board of Supervisors Public Hearing:
February 13, 2007
March 14, 2007
Owners: Four Seasons of Virginia, LLC
Applicant: Four Seasons of Virginia, LLC
Acreage: 8.075 acres
Special Use Permit: Expand the
number of students permitted to attend
the Charlottesville Day School. Section
20.4.2.(1) of the zoning ordinance
applies to this proposal.
TMP: TM 61X1, Parcel 4A, and TM
Existing Zoning and By -right use:
61X2, Parcels 413 and 4D
Planned Unit Development — residential (3 -
Location: 200 Four Seasons Drive,
34 units per acre), commercial, and industrial
approximately 1450 feet from intersection of
uses.
Four Seasons Drive and Rio Road West.
Magisterial District: Rio
Conditions: Yes
DA (Development Area): Neighborhood 1.
Requested # of Dwelling Units: NA
Proposal: Applicant requests an expansion of
Comprehensive Plan Designation: Urban
the number of students permitted at the private
Density Residential — residential (6 — 34
school from 85 students permitted under the
units/acre) and supportive uses such as
current Special Use Permit to 250 students.
religious institutions, schools, commercial,
office and service uses.
Character of Property: The parcels subject
Use of Surrounding Properties: The
to the Special Use Permit are part of the Four
building in which the school is located is
Seasons development. This development
surrounded by recreational uses and
includes single-family detached homes,
parking. The nearest homes are located at
townhomes, and apartments. The area where
the end (cul-de-sac) of Lakeview Drive, and
the school is located is in the recreational part
their backyards abut the facility's parking lot.
of the complex near parking, a playground,
There is a privacy fence separating the yards
tennis courts, and a pool/health spa.
from the parking lot.
Factor Favorable:
Factor Unfavorable: None
1. Provides opportunities for additional students
to be enrolled in the school.
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends approval of this Special Use Permit, with conditions.
STAFF PERSON: JUDITH C. WIEGAND, AICP
PLANNING COMMISSION: FEBRUARY 13, 2007
SP 2006-42 Charlottesville Day School
Applicant's Proposal:
Applicant requests a Special Use Permit to increase the number of students permitted at the
private school from 85 students permitted under the current SP 2003 -017 to 250 students.
Petition:
PROJECT: SP2006-00042 Charlottesville Day School
PROPOSED: Request for special use permit to increase number of students at existing school
from 85 to 250.
ZONING CATEGORY/GENERAL USAGE: Planned Unit Development — residential (3 — 34
units per acre), commercial, and industrial uses
SECTION: 20.4./2(i) private school
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN LAND USE/DENSITY: Urban Density Residential — residential (6-34
units/acre) and supportive uses such as religious institutions, schools, commercial, office and
service uses in Neighborhood 1.
ENTRANCE CORRIDOR: Yes No X
LOCATION: 200 Four Seasons Drive, approximately 1450 feet from intersection of Four
Seasons Drive and Rio Road West.
TAX MAP/PARCEL: 061 X2 -4D, 061 X1 -4A, 061 X2 -4B
MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: Rio
Character of the Area:
The parcels subject to this Special Use Permit are part of the larger Four Seasons
development. This development includes single-family detached homes, townhomes, and
apartments. The area where the school is located is in the recreational part of the complex near
parking, a playground, tennis courts, and a pool/health spa.
Planning and Zoning History:
The original rezoning for the Four Seasons Development was approved in 1969. The
clubhouse was constructed in 1975. Two special use permits, SP1 980-023 and SP1 981-031,
were approved for a day care at this site with a maximum enrollment of 175 children. The
approval for the day care has expired. In 1984, the owner filed a rezoning application
(ZMA1984-009) for condominiums and townhomes. The Planning Commission recommended
denial of the project and the petition was withdrawn prior to public hearing by the Board. In
1985, another rezoning application (ZMA1985-015) was submitted. It requested permission to
expand the clubhouse by 25,500 square feet to allow for the recreational facilities in place
today. This space eventually became the ACAC facility.
After ACAC moved to Albemarle Square, the vacant building was converted into the
Charlottesville Catholic School. A rezoning application (ZMA1998-004) was approved in May
1998 to allow for day care by -right and private schools by special use permit. The rezoning also
contained proffers which restricted the commercial (C-1) and commercial office (CO) activities
permitted. The special use permit (SP1998-001)that accompanied ZMA1998-004 included
conditions limiting enrollment to 180 students, operating hours from 7:30a.m. to 6:00p.m., and
"sunsetting" the school use as of June 30, 2001. SP2000-010, approved May 5, 2000,
increased the enrollment to 220 students. SP2001-009, approved June 20, 2001, allowed an
early childhood education center operated by the Crossroads Waldorf School, with a maximum
enrollment of 85 students.
SP 2006-042 Charlottesville Day School Staff Report, February 13, 2007
A rezoning request (ZMA 2003-001, approved July 9, 2003) allowed administration and
professional offices, libraries, museums, nurseries, day care centers, and health spas in the
facility. A separate, but concurrent, special permit amendment (SP2003-017) allowed on-going
school use in the facility in the name of Four Seasons of Virginia, LLC. The maximum number
of students permitted under this SP was 85. (See Attachment A).
Conformity with the Comprehensive Plan:
The Comprehensive Plan designates this property as Urban Density Residential, which
supports residential (6.01 – 34 units/acre) and supporting uses, such as religious institutions,
schools, commercial, office and service uses in Neighborhood One. This request is consistent
with that designation.
Neighborhood Model:
The special use permit request is for an expansion in the number of students permitted to
attend a private school located within an already approved building and no site development
changes are proposed. The property was previously developed under a Planned Unit
Development. For these reasons, staff has not undertaken an analysis of the site in relation to
the 12 Principles of the Neighborhood Model. Staff notes that there is an internal sidewalk
system that provides for pedestrian connections within the site and to Four Seasons Drive.
Staff Comment:
Staff will address each provision of Section 31.2.4.1 of the Zoning Ordinance as follows:
31.2.4.1: Special Use Permits provided for in this ordinance may be issued upon a
finding by the Board of Supervisors that such use will not be of substantial detriment to
adjacent property,
Staff believes that increasing the number of students at the school will not be of substantial
detriment to adjacent property because the facilities can be shared by the several users, and
the applicant has addressed potential traffic and parking problems. Staff also does not believe
that there will be a significant increase in the amount of noise with the increased number of
students. Further, having a private school in close proximity may provide support to some
nearby residential uses.
The facilities used by Charlottesville Day School are also home to before and after school
programs and, during the summer, a day camp for children. There is also an "Outdoor
Waterpark" (a health spa and pool) nearby that shares the parking and is operated from the
spring through the fall. The third facility that shares the parking lot is a set of outdoor tennis
courts. These courts are also accessed by users who walk in from their homes elsewhere in the
development. (See Attachment B, Property Usage Map)
Based on information provided by the applicant, staff does not believe that there will be
sufficient overlap in the use of these facilities to cause problems with parking or vehicles
queuing out onto Four Seasons Drive. The summer camp is not open while the school is in
operation. During the spring and fall while the school is in session, the waterpark is used
primarily while the children are in school and users park at the end of the lot away from the
school facility. Further, some of the users walk from their homes in the development. There are
seven tennis courts, so the maximum number of players would be 28, and not all would be
expected to drive to the courts. The before and after school programs are attended by some of
the same children who attend class during the schoolday, so they are picked up and dropped
off only once—and before the hours that school -only students arrive.
SP 2006-042 Charlottesville Day School Staff Report, February 13, 2007
The applicant has provided "Current Traffic" and "Expected Traffic" charts (Attachment C) that
show dropoff and pickup times for all those using the school facilities. These charts
demonstrate that the arrivals and departures are spread over a period of time in the morning
and afternoon, so problems with lines of vehicles waiting or queues extending out onto Four
Seasons Drive are very unlikely.
The school's classrooms are indoors, so the children can be expected to be outside only as
they arrive/depart and during recess/recreational time. The applicant has indicated that not all
the children are outdoors at the same time. Given that the school is in the middle of an active
recreation area, staff does not believe that there will be a significant increase in noise that will
be apparent to owners of the nearest residences. It should also be pointed out that this area
has been recreational for many years and a school has been operated on the premises for
many of those years, including a period of time when up to 220 students were allowed.
that the character of the district will not be changed thereby and
The area has been a school site since the early 1980s, beginning as a day care facility. Thus,
the proposed increase in the number of students will merely continue this use.
that such use will be in harmony with the purpose and intent of this ordinance,
Planned Unit Developments are intended to serve as neighborhoods or mini -neighborhoods
within designated communities and the urban area. In order to encourage a community
function, appropriate commercial and industrial uses can be provided, in addition to a variety of
residential uses. Including a private school in this residential and recreational area serves a
supporting function by providing a potentially desirable use—a neighborhood school.
with uses permitted by right in the district,
Uses permitted by right in a Planned Unit Development include residences, parks,
playgrounds, and other recreational facilities, public buildings (including schools), and other
related uses. A school can complement these uses.
with the additional regulations provided in section 5.0 of this ordinance,
There are no additional regulations in section 5.0 that address private schools.
and with the public health, safety and general welfare.
Providing a private school within walking distance of residences supports the public health by
encouraging students to walk to school. The applicant has demonstrated a concern for the
safety of the students and neighbors by requiring the supervised dropoff, as described below.
Increasing the number of students from 85 to 250 is almost a three -fold increase. Staff initially
expressed concern about the number of cars that would be dropping off/picking up students,
about the possibility that a queue of cars would extend out onto Four Seasons Drive as
parents waited to drop off students, and about parking lot safety issues. The applicant has
indicated that parents do not "drop off' children at the school door or in the parking lot. Parents
are required by the school to park and walk their children into the appropriate classroom. This
eliminates one of the staff's concerns: young children walking unescorted across a parking lot
as other parents arrive in their vehicles.
The applicant also indicates that some of the students are children of teachers and staff at the
school and some are siblings (meaning that two or more are dropped off from the same
vehicle). In other words, just as each of the current 85 students does not arrive in separate
vehicles, there will be fewer than 250 vehicles dropping off students if the requested increase
is approved. The following chart gives the applicant's breakdown of student arrivals with the
SP 2006-042 Charlottesville Day School Staff Report, February 13, 2007
current 85 students and the projection of the breakdown of students with a 250 -student
maximum enrollment:
Students
85 Total
250 Total
Children of Teachers/Staff
15
25
(arrive prior to other children)
Siblings
44
100
(at least 2 children /vehicle)
(22 or less)
(50 or less)
Individual Children
26
125
The applicant notes that the school has open arrival hours that allow for staggered arrival times.
Based on current experience, this means that no more than 75 of the 156 available parking
spaces (196 spaces less 40 teacher/staff spaces) are expected to be occupied by parents at
any one time. In short, there is no period of the day when all of the parking spaces are expected
to be needed or used.
Staff requested traffic information from the applicant, who contracted with a consultant to
prepare the report (with transmittal letter) included in Attachment D. The consultant notes the
hours of arrival and departure, confirms the method of "dropping off" students, and includes the
information about the number of teacher/staff children and siblings. The consultant does not
believe, based on the information included in his report, that there will be problems with lines of
vehicles extending out onto Four Seasons Drive. County Engineering staff has reviewed the
consultant's assessment of school operations. Based on the assumptions and operational
methods stated included in the report, the consultant's conclusions are a valid justification for
the proposed increase in students independent of any empirical or engineering analysis.
SUMMARY:
Staff has identified the following factors favorable to this application:
1. Provides opportunities for additional students to be enrolled in the school.
Staff has identified one factor unfavorable to this application:
1. Concern has been expressed by owners of nearby properties that there may be some
additional noise, but staff believes that the request is comparable to the number of
students that have previously been approved for the site (see Attachments E and F).
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Based on the findings contained in this staff report, staff recommends approval of Special Use
Permit 2006-042 Charlottesville Day School, with the following conditions (the original
conditions listed in SP 2003-017, approved July 9, 2003, are given below, with proposed
additions in boldface italics and deletions in strikethrough type):
1. Maximum enrollment will be eighty fide (954 two hundred fifty (250) students;
2. Normal hours of operation for school shall be from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with
occasional uses in the evenings and weekends; and
3.
by Deeernber 31, 2003. [This condition has been met.]
SP 2006-042 Charlottesville Day School Staff Report, February 13, 2007
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A — Letter stating approval of SP 2003-017, dated July 17,2003
Attachment B — Property Usage Map
Attachment C — Charts on Dropoff/Pickup Data
Attachment D — Dominion Development Traffic Information
Attachment E — Letter from Mrs. Richard M. Cox, dated December 6, 2006, expressing
opposition to the request to increase the number of students at the existing school.
Attachment F — Memo, dated February 5, 2007, indicating opposition of Martha Cox.
SP 2006-042 Charlottesville Day School Staff Report, February 13, 2007