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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP201400005 Staff Report 2014-06-03sl�F A� ALBEMARLE COUNTY PLANNING STAFF REPORT SUMMARY Proposal: SP201400005 Regents School of Staff. Christopher P. Perez, Senior Planner harlottesville Planning Commission Public Hearing: Board of Supervisors Hearing: June 3, 2014 TBD Owner: Christian Aid Mission (CAM) Applicant: Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC) Acreage: 12.5 acre parcel, SP to cover approximately TMP: 05900- 00- 00 -023G1 4 acres of the site. Location: 3045 Ivy Road Charlottesville VA Zoning: CO Commercial Office — offices, supporting commercial and service; residential by special use permit (15 units /acre) Magisterial District: Samuel Miller Conditions: Yes EC: Yes Proposal: Amendment to Special Use Permit Requested # of Dwelling Units: 0 (SP2013 -10) for School of Special Instruction to increase the number persons (students and teachers) permitted at the site from the current 96 persons permitted onsite under the existing Special Use Permit to 115 students for the 2014 - 2015 school year and to 130 students for the 2015 - 2016 school year. Utilize existing structure, no additional buildings proposed. School of Special Instruction (Chapter 18 Section 23.2.2(6)) DA: RA: X Comp. Plan Designation: Rural Area 1 - Rural Areas — preserve and protect agricultural, forestal, open space, and natural, historic and scenic resources/ density (0.5 unit/ acre in development lots) Character of Property: The property is developed Use of Surrounding Properties: Surrounding with four existing buildings and related parking. properties are commercial uses, and single family (Attachment A) residential uses. Factors Favorable: Factors Unfavorable: 1. Provides an alternative school option for 1. Increased persons at the facility would create people who live and work in the area. unsafe access conditions due to excessive delay times exiting the property in the morning hours. 2. The use is located in an existing An acceptable alternative access strategy is underutilized building, with adequate needed to remedy the safety concerns with existing parking, and an existing septic ingress and egress to the site. system approved for up to 161 persons. No 2. It is debatable as to whether the proposed new structures are being built. increase in enrollment would constitute a small - scale use as recommended in the Rural Areas Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. RECOMMENDATION: Staff does not recommend approval of the request as proposed, and only recommends approval of SP201400005, Regents School of Charlottesville under the following modifications to the existing conditions from SP201300010. SP20140005 — Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC) Planning Commission: June 3, 2014 STAFF PERSON: Christopher P. Perez, Senior Planner PLANNING COMMISSION: June 3, 2014 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: TBD PETITION: PROJECT: SP201400005 Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC) MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT: Samuel Miller TAX MAP/PARCEL: 05900- 00- 00 -023G1 LOCATION: 3045 Ivy Road Charlottesville VA PROPOSED: Amendment to Special Use Permit (SP2013 -10) for School of Special Instruction to increase the number persons (students and teachers) permitted at the site from the current 96 persons permitted onsite under the existing Special Use Permit to 115 students for the 2014 - 2015 school year and to 130 students for the 2015 - 2016 school year. Utilize existing structure, no additional buildings proposed. School of Special Instruction (Chapter 18 Section 23.2.2(6)) ZONING CATEGORY /GENERAL USAGE: CO Commercial Office — offices, supporting commercial and service; residential by special use permit (15 units /acre) ENTRANCE CORRIDOR: Yes COMPREHENSIVE PLAN LAND USE /DENSITY: Rural Area 1 - Rural Areas — preserve and protect agricultural, forestal, open space, and natural, historic and scenic resources/ density (0.5 unit/ acre in development lots). CHARACTER OF SURROUNDING AREA: The subject property is located at 3045 Ivy Road. The surrounding area is primarily developed with commercial uses, and single family residential uses. North of the property are railroad tracks that run behind the property and separate the adjacent residential development of Farmington Subdivision and Flordon Subdivision from the subject property. To the East are two commercially zoned properties. To the South is Route 250, Ivy Road. To the West is Broomley Rd which serves Farmington Subdivision and Flordon Subdivision. Across Broomley Road is another commercially zoned property. PLANNING AND ZONING HISTORY: SDP1979 Christian Aid Mission Site Plan — site plan for Fellowship Hall, Annex, and Guest House. SDP1988 -094 Christian Aid Mission Major Site Plan Amendment — site plan for Guest House Relocation and Garage addition, and deceleration lane/ entrance upgrades. SDP1992 -052 Christian Aid Mission Administration Building Major Site Plan Amendment — site plan for the Administration Building. Building was built in 1995. SP201200012 Regents School of Charlottesville — Special Use Permit for a school of special instruction in an existing building, with limits of 60 students and 9 staff. SP201300010 Regents School of Charlottesville — Special Use Permit to allow a school of Special Instruction to increase the number of persons (students and teachers) permitted at the site from the current 69 allowed under SP201200012, to increase by 27 persons for a total of 96 persons permitted onsite. DETAILS OF THE PROPOSAL: The property is zoned CO - Commercial Office. The Christian Aid Mission (CAM) complex is comprised of four buildings and associated parking on 12.5 acres. Three (3) of the buildings in the complex are utilized by CAM. The fourth building, the old Christian Aid Mission's Administration Building, is the only building used by the Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC). The building is two stories with a basement. The 1St floor has 3,900 square feet (6 classrooms + 1 large multipurpose room and 5 restrooms), the 2nd floor has 3,900 square feet (7 classrooms and 3 restrooms), and the basement has 3,500 square feet (3 classrooms + 1 large multipurpose room and 2 restrooms). The CAM complex currently has 54 parking spaces available; of those RSC currently utilizes areas P 1, P2, P3 as depicted on the approved concept plan, for a total of 15 spaces. To accommodate an increase of persons at the site for a total of 150 persons (students and teachers), an additional 15 parking spaces are proposed for use by RSC, increasing the total parking needs of the school to 30 parking spaces total (I car per 10 students, 1 space per teacher /administrator). The additional spaces for the increase in enrollment already existing onsite in areas P6 and P7 (Attachment A) and are to be utilized by the facility. Also, the applicant has proposed a vehicle drop off and pickup route onsite (Attachment A). SP20140005 — Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC) Planning Commission: June 3, 2014 2 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 use will not be a substantial detriment to adiacent lots. The outdoor activities of the school do not impact residential properties given the distance of the school from neighboring residences and the separation provided by the heavily wooded buffers which surround the property. Planning staff has visited the site numerous times and is comfortable with the natural barriers which exist between the school and the train tracks and feel that they adequately prohibit access and aid in keeping the students onsite. The school shall continue to utilize an existing building, existing parking, and an existing septic system for up to 161 persons; however, the increase in enrollment shall require access improvements to accommodate the increase in enrollment (see below for the "Harmony" section of the report for a complete explanation). An increase in enrollment appears to necessitate an entrance on Broomley Road and the closing of the existing entrance on Rte 250. Thus the site's existing and proposed traffic will be consolidated on Broomley Road. The design of the proposed entrance and it's affect on Broomley Road have not been studied at this time (Attachment B, Access Strategy #5). Character of district unchanzed. The character of the district will not be changed by the proposed special use. The school has operated in the current location for 2 school years and no new construction is proposed as the use will occupy interior space within the existing building. An entrance on Broomley Road to accommodate increased traffic would not affect the character of the district. Harmony. The proposed special use will be in harmony with the purpose and intent of this chapter with the uses permitted by right in the district with the re- ulations provided in section 5 as applicable, and with the public health, safety and zeneral welfare. The only staff concern to accommodate the increase in student enrollment is with the existing entrance and whether or not is can safely accommodate the proposed increase. Upon review of the request to increase enrollment at the school, a Threshold Analysis /traffic study was requested by VDOT and the County Engineer to assess traffic impacts at the site. The Threshold Analysis, performed by the applicants' Traffic Engineer, Bill Wuensch, assessed the existing traffic conditions onsite and modeled the requested increase in enrollment to determine potential traffic impacts at the site. The study documented that the majority of users of the facility make a left turn out of the site towards Charlottesville during the morning (for student drop off). Based on findings in the study, Mr. Wuensch suggests a limit of 115 students maximum be permitted onsite, based on an outbound delay from the entrance of 489.2 second delay (8 minutes and 9 second) on average per vehicle in the morning. The study made note that this finding was "subjective." The County Engineer, Glenn Brooks, disagrees with the assumptions made in the study; rather, Mr. Brooks noted that the acceptable industry standard specified by the Highway Capacity Manual is already surpassed by the existing student enrollment at the site (83 students and 13 teachers). The study suggests that currently each vehicle is experiencing a 252.2 second delay (4 min and 12 second) on average leaving the site in the morning. The Highway Capacity Manual categorizes a level of service (LOS) F, for an unsignalized intersection, as anything over 50 second delay. As the Threshold Analysis states and the County Engineer acknowledges "Excessive side street delays often result in vehicles taking chances when entering onto the mainline. " The County Engineer recommends that an entrance to Broomley Road be considered in order to increase the enrollment at the site. VDOT, upon review of the study, had no objections to the increase in enrollment because the study concluded the increase in enrollment will not impact the intersection of Broomley Road and Rte 250, or the flow of traffic on Rte 250. VDOT acknowledges the delay times provided in the study, but finds that these delays are internal to the site and will not impact traffic on Rte 250, thus they have no objection; rather, are leaving it up to the County and the applicant to determine an acceptable delay for traffic leaving the site. The Threshold Analysis also analyzed alternative numbers of persons onsite and calculated their estimated delay times to exit the site in the morning. For 105 persons an estimated 404 second delay (6 minutes and 44 second) on ' Highway Capacity Manual defines Level of Service (LOS) as a quality measurement of traffic flow in terms of speed and travel time, freedom to maneuver, comfort and convenience. There are six LOS designations, represented by the letters A through F, with LOS A representing the best operating conditions and LOS F the worst. SP20140005 — Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC) Planning Commission: June 3, 2014 3 average per vehicle, for 90 persons an estimated 307.1 second delay (5 minutes and 7 second) on average per vehicle. Upon request of the applicant, Mr. Wuensch provided an addendum to the report, dated April 23, 2014, based on additional field observations. The addendum discusses current conditions exiting at the site, in which left turning traffic utilizes the hatched median between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Rte 250 to make a two stage entry onto Rte 250 (Attachment D). The original modeling effort did not consider this since the hatched pavement is not truly marked as a two way left turn lane. When the analysis was recalculated to utilize a two way left turn lane the delay for the southbound (school egress) left dropped to 30.1 seconds of delay per vehicle. While the traffic study addendum indicates better existing delays exiting at the site and revises projected delays, the addendum is predicated on using the existing hatched pavement for left turns onto Rt. 250 towards Charlottesville. The County Engineer accepted this if VDOT would approve this painted area as a vehicle refuge, similar to a large median on a divided road, for up to a 25% increase in enrollment, for a total of 104 students2. Per onsite review of the proposal, VDOT was unable to support the use of the median, as the median is not large enough to act as a middle lane for left turns onto Rte 250. In order to accommodate the middle lane, Rte 250 would need to be widened and restriped. The applicant feels that widening Rte 250 for a condition of 104 students is not in the best interest of the school due to the cost of the improvement, and would rather pursue the Broomley Road entrance for a larger enrollment cap. Based on findings in the traffic analysis, staff feels that increased enrollment at the facility would cause further unsafe turning movements due to excessive delay times exiting the property in the morning hours. Therefore, staff does not support an increase in enrollment until an acceptable alternative access strategy is provided to remedy the safety concerns with ingress and egress to the site. With the applicants' request they have proposed a number of alternative access strategies and staff has addressed each (Attachment B), and finds that the only potentially viable solution to accommodate the increased enrollment is the Broomley Road entrance. The access strategy would direct all site generated traffic to a signalized intersection on Broomley Road. Further study would be needed by the applicant and their traffic engineer to determine if a new entrance on Broomley Road could accommodate the proposed increase in enrollment, address delay times onsite, and not cause additional traffic problems. Staff provides additional information about the proposed strategy and what all should be considered with the proposal in Attachment B, Access Strategy #5. With the applicants request they have also requested to separate the number of students and staff from their maximum permitted persons onsite. The applicant requests 115 students and 20 staff members for the upcoming school year (2014 -2015) and 130 students and 20 staff members for the 2015 -2016 school year based on the arrival and departure time differences for teachers and students, reasoning that the impacts will not be as severe as the traffic study indicates. Staff findings: The traffic study relies on 83 students enrolled at the school for current conditions, and 13 teachers /administrative staff could be present on any day under the current conditions of approval which limit the site to 96 people. Staff finds that based on the County Engineer's position that the site is already over its acceptable limit, it is not appropriate to split students and teacher up at this juncture, unless the Broomley Road strategy is pursued, at which time staff could support students and teachers being split. Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan. This site, while in the Rural Area, is located along a section of Route 250 which consists of old commercial development and commercial and industrial zoned property which dates back to the 1960's prior to Comprehensive Planning in the County. The Land Use Plan designates this area as Rural Area (Rural Area 1). The land uses supported by the Rural Areas chapter of the Comprehensive Plan include agriculture, forestry, and conservation. This chapter also outlines the vision and goals for the Rural Areas, and recommends that land uses be small -scale and consistent with traditional rural scales. As stated in the chapter, "Ensure that the scale and scope of any new use is consistent with the existing infrastructure and character of a Crossroads Community... without any requirement for upgrade or expansion of infrastructure ". It is debatable as to whether the proposed increase in enrollment for the school of special instruction would constitute a small -scale use with the issues discussed in this staff report. The school would continue to utilize an existing building, existing 2 The 25% increase in enrollment was recommended by the addendum to the traffic study. Current enrollment is 83 students; a 25% increase is 21 additional students, for a total of 104 students. SP20140005 — Regents School of Charlottesville (RSQ Planning Commission: June 3, 2014 4 parking, and an existing septic system; however, the increase in enrollment may require upgrades to the entrance, unless acceptable alternative access strategies are provided to accommodate the increase in enrollment without an entrance off Broomley Road. SUMMARY: Staff finds the following factors favorable to this request: 1. Provides an alternative school option for people who live and work in the area. 2. The use is located in an existing underutilized building, with adequate existing parking, and an existing septic system approved for up to 161 persons. No new structures are being built. Staff finds the following factor(s) unfavorable to this request: 1. Increased persons at the facility would create unsafe access conditions due to excessive delay times exiting the property in the morning hours. An acceptable alternative access strategy is needed to remedy the safety concerns with ingress and egress to the site. 2. It is debatable as to whether the proposed increase in enrollment would constitute a small -scale use as recommended in the Rural Areas Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff does not recommend approval of the request as proposed, and only recommends approval of SP201400005, Regents School of Charlottesville under the following modifications to the existing conditions from SP201300010: 1. The school is limited to the existing administrative building and grounds, as shown on the concept plan (Attachment A). All parking for the facility shall be located in areas designated on the concept plan as P1, P2, P3, P6, and P7. Any additional buildings or other site changes beyond those shown on the approved site plan for SDP1992 -052 titled "Christian Aid Mission Administration Building" prepared by William W. Finley and date approved July 14, 1994 require an amendment to this Special Use Permit. If an entrance to the school from Broomley Road is pursued b,, t�pplicant, the final site plan on which the Broomley Road entrance is approved shall supersede the approved site plan for SDP 1992 -052 without requiring an amendment to this Special Use Permit. 2. If the entrance to the school is from Rte 250, the maximum number of students and school personnel shall not exceed ninety -six (96). 3. If the entrance to the school is from Broomley Road, maximum enrollment shall be one hundred thirty (130) students. 4. If the entrance to the school is from Broomley Road, the permittee shall design and construct a vehicle entrance onto the site from Broomley Road according to o all applicable VDOT design and construction standards and all other VDOT requirements. 5. All students shall be over the age of two and one -half (2 '/2) years old. 6. The hours of operation for the school shall be between 7:45 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., except that occasional school - related events may occur after 4:00 p.m. 7. No food preparation is permitted onsite without an amendment to this Special Use Permit to authorize onsite food preparation. 8. The permittee shall obtain an annual fire inspection from the County fire marshal. MOTION: A. Should the Planning Commission choose to recommend approval of this special use permit: Move to recommend approval of SP201400005, Regents School of Charlottesville, with conditions as stated in the staff report. B. Should the Planning Commission choose to recommend denial of this special use permit: Move to recommend denial of SP2014000005, Regents School of Charlottesville. Should a commissioner motion to recommend denial, he or she should state the reason(s) for recommending denial. SP20140005 — Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC) Planning Commission: June 3, 2014 5 ATTACHMENTS Attachment A — Survey 1/ Concept Plan Attachment B — Alternative Access Strategy Attachment C — Critical Slopes on the property Attachment D - Rte 250 and Site Entrance SP20140005 — Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC) Planning Commission: June 3, 2014 Legend ... Traffic Flow ..,, Start of DroPof�/P� h - - -- - - line i I No w - y " <... ` t r 1 1 A Exit Attachment B — Alternative Access Strategies 1) Alternative Access Strategy: Traffic Police to direct traffic everyday from Sam — 8:15am. Staff finding: VDOT, Zoning, and Police should sign off on this strategy before it is implemented. The Police were contacted by staff to provide their opinion on this strategy; however, no response has been received. Zoning and VDOT provided no objections to the strategy, but did not directly endorse the strategy. The County Engineer stated that this option cannot be modeled in the traffic impact analysis because it relies on the judgment of a person standing in the middle of traffic to control the flow of traffic. Staff does not believe this is an appropriate option. 2) Alternative Access Strategy: Right in, right out turn required with signage between the hours of 8am — 8:30am. Staff finding: The proposal would require the installation of a sign on -site at the entrance. The sign would not be maintained or enforced by VDOT, nor would the County Police enforce it. Thus sign maintenance and enforcement would be through the Zoning Department as a condition of the Special Use Permit. The strategy would require traffic wanting to turn left out of the site to take a right out of the site and then make a u -turn at some location along Rte 250. VDOT has stated that the u -turn would not be permitted at the traffic light at the intersection of Broomley and Rte 250. There is not a reasonably convenient and safe location to make the u -turn along Rte 250. The applicant suggested a formal arrangement with an off -site business (antique store); however, from a Zoning perspective this is unenforceable and may impact traffic on Rte 250. The traffic study did not analyze this strategy, thus staff cannot make a finding as to the appropriateness or effectiveness of it. 3) Alternative Access Strategy: Alter start time of the school from 8:15am to 8am Staff finding: The traffic study did not analyze this strategy, thus staff cannot make a finding as to the appropriateness or effectiveness of it. 4) Alternative Access Strategy: Entrance modification to require right out. Potentially a "pork chop" design at the existing entrance to the site. Staff finding: VDOT initially suggested the applicant explore the pork chop entrance modification; however, upon further analysis VDOT will not allow a u -turn at the Broomley/Rte 250 traffic light as noted in the strategy #2 above. This option requires u -turns somewhere along Rte 250 corridor. This is not an acceptable approach to manage turning movements from the site. Notably, the traffic study did not analyze this strategy, thus staff cannot make a finding as to the effectiveness of it. If the strategy is pursued it would require a site plan amendment for the site. 5) Alternative Access Strategy: Develop a new entrance on Broomely Road and close the existing entrance on Rte 250 Staff finding: The Broomley Road access strategy may be feasible. It would direct all site generated traffic to a signalized intersection on Broomley Road and Rte 250; however, further study would be needed by the applicant and their traffic engineer to determine if a new entrance on Broomley Road could accommodate the proposed increase in enrollment, address delay times onsite, and not cause additional traffic problems. It should be noted that the Broomley Road strategy has not been studied by the applicant, staff, VDOT, nor considered in the traffic study. Staff provides the following information for the Board of Supervisors and the Applicant to take into consideration for this access strategy: • This access strategy requires a Major Site Plan Amendment for the site and an Erosion Sediment Control Plan. The owners of the property would need to be a part of these applications. At this time Regents School of Charlottesville is leasing the building, and does not own the property. This access strategy requires the disturbance of a large band of critical slopes onsite, and would require a critical slopes waiver be granted by the Board of Supervisors for the disturbance of these slopes to accommodate the new entrance road. At this time, there has been no analysis provided to aid staff in determining if these slopes are manmade or natural features (Attachment Q. • If this access strategy is pursued the applicant shall take into consideration proposed VDOT road construction on Broomley Road. Currently VDOT is slated to undergo a construction project to raise the elevation of Broomley Road and the bridge in the coming years to go over the railroad tracks. This construction should be considered during the study of the entrance strategy. • VDOT spacing requirements for entrances to a signalized intersection shall be considered. Per preliminary discussions with VDOT, a waiver of the spacing requirement would be needed to pursue an entrance off Broomley Road, depending on where it was proposed onsite. • Additional traffic will be consolidated on Broomley Road. The function of the proposed entrance and it's affect on Broomley Road should be studied by the applicant and their traffic engineer prior to pursuing this strategy. If the applicant would like to consider or pursue the Broomley Road strategy it's advisable that the applicant work with their consultant to further develop the ideas prior to preliminary discussions with any of the review agencies. Map is for Display Purposes Only • Aerial Imagery from the Commonwealth of Virginia and Other Sources May 27, 2014 -sy$$ '- Legend (Note: Some items on map may not appear in legend) a 1 naa�re 00 r, ©R RES UE S —ON ° ° 6OE1- 6OE1- -OC -17 -OC -16 60E1- -OC -15 610E1--0C-14 ® LI RY ®PO Es,A,oN aa c> S �R,�Ra asM PRO C 5X P�� 677 TM: 59 59 -23 i ( 3045 M � i 3045 N —/- L ` 59 -2362 A- .., 1 i ivy RD —< 4 138 ft A[e� ;' J1' 59 -soc yOE GIS -Web _ �' �2 III' ° �' Geographic Data Services _ _ — — i _ — — 'i��RC www.albemarle.org 59 -$0 (434) 296 -5832 Map is for Display Purposes Only • Aerial Imagery from the Commonwealth of Virginia and Other Sources May 27, 2014 Attachment D - Rte 250 and Site Entrance To Crozet (West on Rte 250) To Charlottesville (East on Rte 250) To Charlottesville (East on Rte 250) To Crozet (West on Rte 250)