HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP201600025 Presentation Special Use Permit 2017-04-12 SP2016-25
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Regents School of Charlottesville
3045 Ivy Road,Charlottesville VA
Board or Supervisors- Public Hearing
April 12, 20 17
At its meeting on February 7, 2017, the Planning Commission recommend approval of
SP-2016-00025 with the conditions outlined in the staff report.
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The Christian Aid Mission parcel which Regents School of Charlottesville is located on is
a 12.5 acre property,which is zoned CO Commercial Office. Surrounding zoning is Cl
Commercial, Highway Commercial, and Rural Area.
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PROPOSAL:
* Amendment to SP2014-5 to omit condition #9:
"The SP shall expire on Aug 13, 2017"
No increase in enrollment or modifications to the school are requested.
The proposal is to remove the sunset clause of the SP.
This condition was placed on the SP to grant the school the requested increase in
enrollment and to allow the County a chance to re-evaluate the approval based on traffic
safety concerns and the performance of the two access management strategies(Condition
#2 and#3).
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CHECK IN
• Condition #2: Reconfigure entrance to prohibit left turns out
• Condition #3: Implement/maintain van pool
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Conditions #2 and#3 were aimed at mitigating traffic safety concerns.
Condition#2 has been complied with and is functioning as intended.
There has been:
-No crashes related to school w/the modified entrance
-No crash hotspots to the west(U-turns locations)
B) All Saints Anglican Church (through a legal agreement)—which is 1.5 miles from
Regents
-The right out appears to be working fine, with no reported illegal left turns.
Condition#3 has been complied with and the vanpool has had enormous success.
-expanding the program from 1 van(for 14 students)to 1 bus(for 48 students)
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FACTORS FAVORABLE:
• There have been no crashes at the entrance to the site related to school
traffic since the installation of the modified entrance onto Rt. 250.
• There are no identified crash hotspots in the vicinity to the west of the
school entrance where school traffic is making U-turns in order to
return to Charlottesville after leaving the school.
• The access management strategies occurring onsite are functioning as
intended.
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FACTORS UNFAVORABLE:
• There has been insufficient time to fully assess the long-term traffic
impacts of the site with the modified entrance onto Rt. 250, the
current school traffic levels, and other access management strategies
occurring onsite.
• Removing the sunset clause allows the use(private school) to
continue indefinitely at this enrollment level regardless of potential
safety hazards that may become evident in the years to come.
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RECOMMENDED CONDITIONS
Based on the need for a 5-year time frame discussed in the staff
report and the amount of time it takes for crash data to be publically
released, staff recommends the sunset clause be extended by an
additional four(4)years, till August 13, 2021.
IF THEY QUESTION ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FIVE YEARS—FLIP TO LAST SLIDE:
"Why FIVE Years"
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*of Nolo
Applicant I Lquest
Proposed New Condition
• Applicant recently proposed new condition that would allow for administrative extinguishing of condition#9.
"9.SP2014-00005 shall expire on August 13,2017"
• Proposed condition:
"10.If the applicant's traffic engineer can demonstrate to the reasonable satisfaction of the Director of
Planning,that for a period of two years from the date of the approval of S P2016-00025,there has not been more than
one left turn angle crash that is(a)due to site ingress or egress at the Regents School entrance during school activity
hours;and(b)determined to be specifically attributable to the Regents School use,then condition#9 shall
automatically expire and become null and void at the end of such two-year period."
• Purpose of the proposed condition:
-Eliminates the need and cost to the applicant for possible future requests for extensions of the approved SP
-Provides a level of predictable for the school/parents regarding recruitment and enrollment.
Purpose of the proposed condition:
- Eliminates the need and cost to the applicant for possible future requests for
extensions of the approved SP
- Provides a level of predictable for the school/parents regarding recruitment and
enrollment.
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Staff Analysis of
Pro )osed. New Condition
• Proposed condition is legally acceptable.
• Proposed condition is enforceable.
• Proposed specificity is required to be an administrative action
• Measures of safety defined in new condition focus only on accidents that occur at site entrance
specifically related to school use.
-not more than one left turn angle crash that is(a)due to site ingress and egress at the Regents
School entrance during school activity hours within two from SP201600025 approval.
-if above condition is met and verified by Director of Planning,condition#9 automatically
becomes null and void
The condition does not consider other traffic impacts along Rte.250
• Timeframe of condition would allow for 4 years worth accident history.
• Existing accident data for past two years does not indicate the existence of traffic/accident safety issues
related to the school use.
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•
44000,
MOTION
A. Should the Board choose to approve this special use permit w/staff's recommended
condition:
• Move to adopt the attached Resolution(Attachment D)to approve the special use
permit,subject to the conditions contained therein.
B.Should the Board choose to approve this special use permit w/the applicants recent
condition:
• Move to adopt the attached Resolution (Attachment D)to approve the special use
permit,subject to the conditions contained therein,with the addition of condition
#10 as discussed/provided in this presentation.
"10.If the applicant's traffic engineer can demonstrate to the reasonable
satisfaction of the Director of Planning,that for a period of two years from the date
of the approval of SP2016-00025,there has not been more than one left turn angle
crash that is(a)due to site ingress or egress at the Regents School entrance during
school activity hours;and(b)determined to be specifically attributable to the
Regents School use,then condition#9 shall automatically expire and become null
and void at the end of such two-year period."
Some suggested wording for the Motion.
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MOTION
C. Should the Board choose to deny this special use permit:
• Move to deny SP2016-25. Should a Board member motion to deny,
he or she should state the reason(s)for denial.
Some suggested wording for the Motion.
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END OF PRESENTATION
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Why Five Years
• Transportation Planner recommends 5 years of crash data to
allow potential safety hazards that may become evident in the
years to come.
• A five-year study is the standard relied upon by traffic
engineers to analyze traffic and accident trends for existing site
conditions.
Transportation Planner recommends 5 years of crash data to allow potential safety
hazards that may become evident in the years to come.
A five-year study is the standard relied upon by traffic engineers to analyze traffic and
accident trends for existing site conditions.
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Now
Regents School of Charlottesville (RSC) Project Narrative
October 17, 2016
PROJECT PROPOSAL
On behalf of our client, Regents School of Charlottesville ("RSC"), who operates a private
education facility on tax map parcel 05900-00-00-023G1, which parcel has an address of 3045
Ivy Road (the "Property"), known as the Christian Aid Mission (CAM) Administration Building
(the "School"), we would like to request the removal of the sunset clause within SP 2014-00005
("SUP 2014").
RSC is a non-profit classical secondary school founded in August 2010. In August 2012, the
School moved to its current location at the CAM building under special use permit SP 2012-
0012 ("SUP 2012"). The School grew rapidly, necessitating SUP 2014, which allowed a
maximum of one-hundred and thirty (130) students after the 2014-2015 school year. A condition
of approval included a sunset clause of August 13, 2017 was imposed on SUP 2014 so as to
encourage relocation.
RSC has been working to accommodate its growth through both on-site improvements and off-
site relocation and expansion. It has worked extensively with parents and staff to ease traffic
problems and enhance safety. The school community in turn has been engaged and committed to
such new rules and policies due to its investment in the school's continued success. Though the
School has continued to grow, reaching 143 students in August 2014 and in response RSC
acquired a second property for the secondary school in the City of Charlottesville at Jefferson
Park Avenue Baptist Church and is in negotiations with landowners at another site in the area. In
order to more fully and carefully assess best relocation sites, RSC would like to remove the SUP
expiration date of August 13, 2017, which would allow it to operate at its current capacity until a
more suitable site can be found.
CONSISTENCY WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
The proposed amendment is consistent with the property's designation of Rural Area as the
Facility is a community service that maintains a small enough scale to properly preserve the
surrounding environmental and neighborhood character. The excellent education provided by
RSC to its students is exemplified by its expounding growth; the unique teaching methods,
curriculum, and personal attention of the faculty enable students to thrive. Such educational
success is an invaluable service to the community.
Nonetheless, a sunset clause was put in place for the School due to issues related to potential
increased traffic caused by the School's growth. Specifically, there were concerns with the safety
and delays caused by turning left out of the site. RSC took these concerns seriously and
responded in kind and we believe adequately mitigated such impacts of its growth. The School
built a modified pork-chop at its exit, which restricts cars to only turning right when exiting the
site onto Route 250. RSC then proactively reached out to several property owners who lived
nearby; RSC has an agreement with All Saints Anglican Church, located two minutes from the
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School, to allow parents to turn around at the Church so that those who would have turned left if
allowed are now able to continue to their destinations.
RSC has strictly enforced a right-only exit at their site. It has a database of parents' license
plates, enabling it to quickly address any non-compliance that is reported. RSC has informed the
parents of the importance of compliance and therefore they take it very seriously, often self-
regulating and reporting other parents themselves. Moreover, expansion of school enrollment has
occurred within families, i.e. siblings have been added to the school system and thus as the
number of students enrolled has grown, the number of necessary cars has not. As of the start of
the 2016 school year, 130 students are enrolled, while there are only 79 families total. Further
reducing traffic concerns, RSC implemented a van system whereby fourteen students take a car
pool van that picks up and drops off at Walmart each day. The van currently has a waitlist and
plans are in place to raise money for a larger bus. Also, many other families have implemented
their own carpools.
Beyond traffic reduction policies, RSC has also reduced traffic by opening a secondary location
for its school. Now, only one-hundred and five (105) students attend the Ivy Road location,
which is a reduction from the school's maximum attendance at its Ivy Road location of 127.
The concerns raised by the 2013 special use permit have been adequately addressed by RSC.
This is evidenced by the lack of accidents attributable to the school. According to Albemarle's
traffic engineer, only two accidents occurred on Ivy Road: one was at night and the other during
the summer; both when the School is not in session. The school traffic only occurs at peak times
for a fifteen (15) minute window during drop off and pick up. Moreover, a compliance report
was issued in May that found RSC to be in full compliance with its special use permit, i.e.
adequately mitigating the concerns of traffic.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned extensive measures that RSC has taken to address safety
concerns, it is still enjoying continued success and thus is projected to expand. Though we would
like to stress that this application does not ask for an expansion of its current capacity but rather
seeks to enable the School to continue to maintain at its current levels, i.e. remove the sunset
clause of its SUP, and continue to enable a one-hundred and thirty (130) student enrollment
maximum. Removal of the sunset clause will allow RSC the time to carefully choose its
relocation site, as RSC envisions growth and relocation is the means of addressing such growth.
Moreover, a relocation site within the area will likely require a separate special use permit and
thus the process will take time, likely nine to twelve months. RSC has been diligent in protecting
the safety of its students and the surrounding neighborhood. The sunset clause is no longer
necessary as a means of ensuring compliance; as mentioned earlier, traffic concerns have been
adequately addressed.
On August 13, 2014, the Board of Supervisors held a public hearing to address extending the
School's one-hundred and thirty (130) student enrollment cap. The discussion focused on safety
mitigation; for instance, the three year timeframe of the SUP 2014 was put in place, according to
Mr. Sheffield, "not for the school's relocation" but to "measure the effectiveness of the safety
mitigation." He continued, "the shorter the time period [of the sunset clause], the sooner [the
Board of Supervisors] can evaluate that." As stated earlier, since the SUP 2014, the School has
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added a car pool van, installed a modified pork shop for exiting the site onto Route 250,
encouraged a culture of internal carpooling and strict adherence to the traffic conditions of SUP
2014, and has worked with surrounding businesses to coordinate locations for safe sites to turn
around once turning right out of the site. Asa result, according to an August 2016 VDOT report,
no accidents attributable to the School have occurred d in the area. For all these reasons, we
believe the safety concerns have been adequately addressed and thus the sunset clause is no
longer necessary.
In sum, RSC's commitment to safety demonstrated by its investment in the site's infrastructure,
strict implementation of safety rules and policies, and its diligent search for a relocation site all
demonstrate that is unnecessary to include the sunset provision that was a condition of the
previous special use permit (SUP 2013).
IMPACTS ON PUBLIC FACILITIES & PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
The issue of traffic is addressed in the above discussion. The proposal does not negatively impact
any other public facilities. It does not burden public schools, as the School would only help to
lessen the stress on the public school system. An annual fire safety report is required as part of
SUP 2014. The 2015 fire safety report is submitted with this application, and a 2016 report will
be submitted as an addendum in the coming weeks. - ------
IMPACTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES
The proposed amendment has no impact on environmental features for the same reasons listed
above. Moreover, there are no steep slopes, streams, or other environmentally sensitive items at
risk as the proposed amendment does not seek to expand capacity but rather sustain it at the
School's current level.
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