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CONSIDERATION OF A PRELIMINARY PLAT FOR ROSE ROCK SCHOOL ADDITION. (LOCATED AT 1515 WEST MAIN STREET).
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BACKGROUND: This item is a preliminary plat for Rose Rock Addition, a Planned Unit Development, and is located at 1515 West Main Street. This property consists of 3.72 acres and one (1) residential lot for the purposes of a private school serving kindergarten through 5th grade including the applicant’s ability to live on site. Prior to annexation in 1956, this property was part of the Johnson Dairy Farm. The 3-level house was built in 1940. This is an unplatted parcel of land. City Council, at its meeting of August 14, 1956, adopted Ordinance No. 1005 annexing and placing this property in the R-1, Single Family Dwelling District. The plat of Town and Country Estates Addition located to the west of this property was annexed in the City in 1955. The plat of Town and Country Estates 2nd Addition located to the north and east was annexed in the City in 1956. Both additions were zoned R-1, Single Family Dwelling Districts.
Planning Commission, at its meeting of September 12, 2013, recommended amending the NORMAN 2025 Land Use and Transportation Plan from Low Density Residential Designation to Institutional Designation and recommended approval of the request to place this property in the Planned Unit Development District. At its same meeting, Planning Commission recommended approval of the preliminary plat for Rose Rock Addition. The proposed school will facilitate 59 students and 5 faculty members for students in grades kindergarten through 5th grade. There are no plans in the current proposal for new structures on the property. The current proposal for the school is to remodel the existing structure to meet the requirements of the school.
DISCUSSION: The proposed private school will utilize the existing buildings on this site rather than constructing a new building. Ultimately, the school will accommodate up to 59 students. At full build-out, the proposed 59 students in this private school are expected to generate approximately 146 trips per day. The traffic capacities on the surrounding streets exceed the demand for existing and proposed trips as a result of this development. No negative traffic impacts are anticipated. See Attachment A.
Because of the location of the development, the applicant was required to submit a traffic impact study. The subject study was received from Traffic Engineering Consultants, Inc., on April 24, 2012.
The installation of a traffic signal is recommended for the intersection of Main Street and Wylie Road. The access for the proposed Rose Rock School intersects Main Street slightly west of the existing Wylie Road intersection. However, under the proposed scenario, the future traffic signal will control movements on and off Wylie Road as well as in and out of the school. The traffic impact study shows that the proposed signal will be warranted with or without the development of the proposed Rose Rock School by the year 2016. Staff will continue to monitor the intersection moving forward to determine if, and when, a traffic signal might be warranted.
In response to neighborhood concerns regarding potential queuing on Main Street during the after school pick-up times, the traffic engineering consultant provided additional information. Adequate queuing will be available on-site when coupled with school plans to stagger start/end times for different grades within the school. This commitment to the drop-off/pick-up process by the school, coupled with the decreased enrollment from what had previously been shown, 265 students, to the current 59 student enrollment, will help to assure that no traffic safety problems will result from this proposed development.
The proposed location of Rose Rock School along a principle arterial such as Main Street where there is a fairly high likelihood their students and/or parents with children could cross Main Street to get to/from the school should be equipped with a flashing school beacon on both eastbound and westbound Main Street approaches to the school. Flashing school beacons require vehicles to reduce their speed to 25 mph during certain hours of the day. The applicant should fund or partner with the City to have these beacons installed. The only exception to this requirement for previous schools has been those locations where it is impractical to assume that students would cross the street to get to/from the school such as Community Christian School on Interstate Drive south of Tecumseh Road.
Public improvements for this property consist of the following:
Storm Sewers. Storm water will be conveyed to a proposed privately maintained detention facility in the northwest corner of the property and storm water will be conveyed to the existing public drainage system.
Public Dedications. All rights-of-way and easements will be dedicated to the City with final platting.
Traffic Items. Install, or provide funding for installation by city forces, solar powered flashing school beacons on eastbound and westbound approaches to proposed Rose Rock School. Estimated cost is $11,000.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Based on the above information, Staff recommends approval of the preliminary plat for Rose Rock Addition, a Planned Unit Development, subject to the approval of Resolution No. R-1314-25 and Ordinance No. O-1314-12.