HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP201400005 Correspondence 2014-04-23 REGENTS SCHOOL OF CHARLOTTESVILLE
April 23,2014
Christopher P.Perez
Senior Planner,County of Albemarle
Department of Community Development
401 McIntire Road,North Wing
Charlottesville,VA 22902
Dear Mr. Perez,
Thank you for your comments on our application for Special Use Permit. Our remedies for the comments submitted
by planning commission staff are as follows:
Planning:
An additional traffic study and analysis has been performed by Mr.Bill Wuensch of EPR. He has been in contact
with Mr.Glen Brooks and can provide additional assistance/clarification as to the traffic conditions outside our
entrance as needed. We would like to modify our special use permit request to reflect the recommendations of Mr.
Wuensch(115 students)as well as come to an agreement with the planning commission on how future remedies
would allow us to increase our student population to 130 with a teacher population of 20. It would be wonderful if
we could come to an understanding of what remedies would be acceptable during this special use permit application
so that we would not need to come back to the planning commission next year. Since faculty enters the property in
the morning and do not exit until the afternoon,after the students exit,we see no reason why parking lot exit data
should limit the number of teachers on the site. We would like to have the number of staff members separated out
from the limit for the number of students. Therefore,we request an allowance of 20 staff members for future needs,
in addition to the 115 students requested for this upcoming school year(2014-2015). At these numbers,with our
carpool rates,this amounts to no more than ten additional cars in the morning exiting the premises. It will also keep
us well under our limit of 30 parking spaces.
• We do not believe the initial traffic study accurately represents what happens in the field on a daily basis.
Quite simply,cars are not waiting to exit the property for 252.2 seconds.Daily observation of the cars
exiting our property differ significantly from the data provided in the first study. Therefore,we asked Mr.
Wuensch to perform additional observations.Those observations are attached.
• To get to the numbers of 130 students for the(2015-2016 school year)if we are still located at this facility,
we propose the following remedies:
1. A right in,right out turn could be required with county signage between the hours of 8:00
and 8:30. The school is willing to contract with a local business on 250 to allow turn
around space.
2. An exit on Broomley Road could be explored during the construction phase of the
Broomley Bridge. There is not enough information at this resubmission date available
from VDOT as to road height,etc.to gage the expense of such an entrance.
3. The school is willing to alter its school start time to 8:00 a.m. from 8:15 a.m if this
accommodation will achieve desired results.
4. The school is willing to hire a traffic policeman to direct traffic everyday from 8:00 to
8:15.
Engineering:
Regents School acknowledges Mr.Brooks request for an entrance to be created at Broomley Road. We are happy to
consider such an option.The most significant obstacle is expense. Christian Aid Mission,the property owner, is
planning to sell the building and we do not have a lease to be at this location beyond the 2014-2015 school year.
VDOT construction on the Broomley Bridge will potentially impact the cost of adding such an entrance. Until there
is more information regarding road height,etc.,it is not possible for the school to determine if this is a capital
improvement we are capable of making.
Virginia Department of Transportation:
We have had several conversations with Mr.Austin of VDOT in addition to his written comments. It is clear to us
and he has stated repeatedly that there is no evidence that this intersection is unsafe. Models may suggest certain
things,but thus far,the Regents parents have proven to be safe drivers and there has not been a single accident at
this intersection during school hours in the two years the school has leased the property.
Fire and Rescue:
It is our understanding that the building owner has contacted the fire marshall and we expect inspections presently.
We were unaware that we were behind as we have had regular contact with the fire marshall's office due to monthly
fire drills,etc.
Thank you for your assistance with these matters! We are grateful for the support of all of the staff and supervisors.
S' -rely,
)4(: /ji,110
ourtney lu o
Head of Sch 1
Regents Sch of Charlottesville
434-293-0633 school
434-987-6186 cell