Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP202200018 Narrative 2022-07-15PROJECT OVERVIEW: ST. PAUUS IVY PRESCHOOL St. Paul's, Ivy Episcopal Church seeks to open a Religiously Exempt Child Day Center (RECDC) at its current address: 851 Owensville Rd. Charlottesville VA 22901. St. Paul's, Ivy Episcopal Church is conveniently located at the crossroads of Owensville Road and Ivy Road (route 250), and will serve the rapidly expanding Western Albemarle County residents. The preschool program will operate Monday -Friday from 9am-12pm daily, with an optional extended day program until 2 pm. We will serve children 2.5 years old to 5/6 years old (PreK) and have a student population of up to 24 students. St. Paul's Ivy Preschool will offer classes after Labor Day and conclude before Memorial Day. During that period, the preschool will observe 5 weeks of unscheduled programming for holidays and school breaks. St. Paul's, Ivy Episcopal Church will use the existing building's downstairs religious education classrooms, with no alterations necessary. In an effort to become a RECDC we would like to change the use of our certificate to include "Educational Use." PROJECT PROPOSAL NARRATIVE • Public need or benefit o The combination of population growth, waitlists and permanent preschool closings due to COVID-19 puts St. Paul's Ivy Episcopal Church in a unique position to provide a preschool ministry for local families. According to the most recent census data, the population of Crozet has increased by 28.6% since 2010. For comparison, the greater Charlottesville area has grown .59%. This includes many families with preschool aged children. The current preschools in the Crozet/Ivy area cannot serve the early childhood education needs of the expanding community, and many have long waiting lists. Also, given the closing of Christ Church Episcopal Preschool during COVID, St. Paul's Ivy Preschool may fill a void for families seeking Episcopal early childhood education. How the special use will not be a substantial detriment to adjacent lots o St. Paul's Ivy Preschool will operate in the existing educational space at St. Paul's Ivy Episcopal Church; there will be no physical alterations that would affect adjacent lots. The church's property is 15 acres, and the closest residential property is 76 yards away from the preschool area. The church building itself is 90 yards from the road on the front side and is buffered by the cemetery by 150 yards on the back. The preschool will admit no more than 24 children, of which only one class comes daily (the two other classes come two days a week and three days a week, respectively), so the maximum total number of children on site will be 20 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and 18 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The preschool will operate during daytime hours, and the children will typically only be outside during two, 20 minute increments daily. 2 • How the character of the Zoning District will not be changed by the proposed special use o Because St. Paul's Ivy Preschool will use the existing educational area of the church and no alterations whatsoever will be made, the preschool will not change the character of the Zoning District. • How how the special use will be in harmony with the following: o Purpose and intent of Zoning Ordinance ■ The general purpose of the Zoning Ordinance is to promote public health, safety, convenience, and welfare. St. Paul's Ivy Preschool will contribute to the health and welfare of young children through high -quality early childhood education, which is essential for promoting young children's cognitive and social -emotional skills, as well as their readiness to enter K-12 schools. In addition, St. Paul's Ivy Preschool will align with the Zoning Ordinance's purpose by contributing to the provision of "adequate schools", in a convenient location for families in the Western Albemarle area (Section 1-4 (C, D). o Uses permitted by right in the zoning district ■ When St. Paul's Ivy Episcopal Church built the educational addition in 1997, part of the church's intent was to eventually operate a religious preschool program. With that mission in mind and the understanding that an additional certificate of occupancy is necessary, the church will comply with the Zoning Ordinance during and after the application process, including not operating a "child day center" until the certificate of occupancy for educational use is obtained (Section 2.1.1). Although the zoning for the "Village of Ivy" is primarily intended for residential and agricultural purposes, there are commercial properties in the area. The proposed preschool's size and scale is compatible with other adjacent uses by right, and the preschool is supportive of the residential population. o Regulations provided in Section 5 of the Zoning Ordinance as applicable ■ St. Paul's Ivy will comply with all Building Code regulations, including all fees, fire prevention and alarms, inspection and any required alterations prior to operation. o Public health, safety and general welfare St. Paul's Ivy Preschool will comply with all health/fire/safety codes, both those required by the Zoning Ordinance and those required for licensure as a Religiously Exempt Child Day Center. The preschool will not be serving food, changing diapers, or have children napping on site. In terms of noise (Section 7, Article 1): As stated in the section above on "substantial detriment to adjacent lots", the preschool capacity will be very small, and the church is on a large lot of land that is 76 yards and further from any nearby residential properties. In terns of nuisances (Section 7), the preschool will not require any changes to the current exterior maintenance or landscaping. CK1]�fyf.71_Y_�I�C IWSD11IDIOM►LMdWOO • Albemarle County's Comprehensive Plan seeks to provide "excellent educational opportunities as found in the county's public and private schools", which meets our goal of providing high quality, evidence -based early childhood education. More specifically, the Western Albemarle Master Plan states the importance of partnerships with the University of Virginia. St. Paul's Ivy Preschool will provide another preschool option for UVA employees at a convenient location. Lastly, although the preschool will not be located in Crozet, we estimate that many of our students will be from the Crozet area, due to growth and the close location. One of the primary reasons the church decided to move forward with starting a preschool now is because of the hyper -local need for early childhood education opportunities, which is consistent with the goals of the Crozet Master Plan, in that expansion of schools is necessary to serve a rapidly growing population. IMPACTS ON PUBLIC FACILITIES & PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE Because the preschool will operate in the existing church and will enroll such a small number of children, there will be no impact on public facilities and public infrastructure, such as public transportation or school bus operation. The preschool will begin operation after public schools are in session and conclude before public schools dismiss. In addition, two of the three classes at the preschool do not come every day, so the only potential impact is a very small increase in traffic from 8:55-9:00 A.M., 11:55-12:05 P.M., and an even smaller increase in traffic from 1:55-2:05 for the children enrolled in the extended day program. IMPACTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES • St. Paul's, Ivy Episcopal Church will use the existing building's downstairs religious education classrooms. No physical modifications will be made to the church that would impact the environment. CONCEPTUAL PLAN (See Attached Conceptual Plan Map and Floorplan) • Street network, including circulation within the project, connections to existing and proposed and planned streets within and outside of the project (See attached Conceptual Plan Map) • General location of pedestrian and bicycle facilities o N/A; The church property has no sidewalks, bicycle lanes or crosswalks Building envelopes (see attached Conceptual Plan Map) rd • Parking envelopes: (see attached Conceptual Plan Map) o Yellow outline denotes general parking (up to approximately 100 cars) o Green outline denotes staff parking (up to approximately 20 cars) • Preschool Pickup/Dropoff Loop o Option 1 (preferred: Red outline denotes pickup/dropoffloop ■ Cars will enter on the north side of the property from Owensville Road. ■ Cars will drive toward the preschool entrance and enter the loop in front of the school's entryway. ■ Preschool staff will help children out of vehicles while parents remain in the vehicle. Staff will escort children one at a time into the school building and to their respective classrooms. Once the children enter the building, parents will continue around the red outline loop, and then have the option to exit north or south on Owensville Road. o Option 2: Reverse the red outline loop ■ Parents enter from the south side of the property from Owensville Road • This option could potentially back traffic up on the cross-section of Ivy and Owensville Rd. o Option 3: Parents park in the main parking lot and walk children all the way to the front door of the school. • Outdoor Play Area o Blue outline denotes existing outside playground area • Floor Plan: See attached • Overlap with the proposed use and existing church functions/activities o There will be no overlap with the preschool areas and existing church functions during the preschool hours of operation (Monday thru Friday, 9 A.M. to 2 P.M.). o Some of the preschool areas maybe used on Sunday mornings (e.g., Children's Chapel, one or more classrooms for Sunday School). o Enrollment: up to 24 students (2.5 yrs to 6 yrs old) and up to 4 employees • Estimated Trip Generation o We expect to have up to 24 students and up to 4 employees daily. o Altogether, we expect up to 104 trips daily: 24 students x 4 trips daily = 96; 4 employees x 2 trips daily = 8. o Due to the time of day and given the small number of daily trips, we do not anticipate any safety issues with the roadways.