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For the week of March 26 - April 1, 2003

News

Sagewillow school plan survives appeal hearing

City Council upholds P&Z use permit


By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley City Council members Wednesday narrowly voted to deny two appeals of a city permit granted to The Community School to build a new elementary school on its Sagewillow campus in Elkhorn.

In a 2-1 vote with Council President Latham Williams abstaining, the panel upheld the city Planning and Zoning Commission’s January approval of a conditional-use permit to develop part of the 30-acre Sagewillow site.

Council members Ann Agnew and Lud Renick voted to deny the two appeals, while Councilman Kevin Laird voted to support the appellants.

"There’s no question in my mind that schools are correct uses in the O-R zone," Agnew said, responding to objections from the appellants that the use was inappropriate for the Outdoor/Recreation zoned site.

Laird said he was "not comfortable" with conditions to the permit designed to mitigate traffic impacts, noting that he wanted to remand the application back to the P&Z. "I think there’s work to do," he said.

Williams removed himself from the panel during the proceedings, noting that he had conflicting interests in the matter because his two children attend The Community School.

The two appeals against the permit issued to The Community School were filed by the Sun Valley Elkhorn Association homeowners’ group and a contingent of citizens who reside on adjacent Arrowleaf Road and in other neighborhoods near the site.

A third appeal filed by The Community School seeking less stringent regulations on the number of vehicles that can enter and exit the site via Arrowleaf Road was also rejected by the council. The panel voted 3-0 to deny that appeal and approve the traffic restrictions set forth by the P&Z.

The P&Z’s approval of the project came with a long, six-page set of operating conditions for the school and penalties if the conditions are violated.

The P&Z set a maximum number of vehicles that can enter or exit the site each month, based on an allowance of 400 vehicles per day during the week and 150 vehicles per day on weekends. The numbers would be adjusted to 480 vehicles per day during the week and 200 on the weekend during the months of September and October to accommodate soccer games and practices.

The school will be required to install a vehicle counter at its entrance at the end of Arrowleaf Road.

J. Evan Robertson, attorney for The Community School, argued in his appeal that the new campus ought to be allowed to accommodate an average of 480 vehicles per day over the course of the entire calendar year.

"Damn it, if we’re going to run a school we’re going to need some flexibility," he said.

However, he noted that the school will comply with whatever regulations were imposed by the city. "This is the school’s risk, if we don’t meet the requirements," he said. "We’re going to do it."

Attorney Ned Williamson, representing the residents of Arrowleaf Road and other Elkhorn neighborhoods, presented the first of the appeals against the CUP. He argued that the new school—as a private entity—would not meet any of the defined conditional uses for the OR zoning district.

Williamson also argued that the conditions imposed by the P&Z would not adequately mitigate noise, and finally asked that the application be remanded back to the P&Z for further review.

Ed Lawson, attorney for the SVEA appellants, asked that the council reject the application or send it back to P&Z so the city could "come up with a real traffic plan."

He said the permit conditions failed on several accounts. "This has not been thought out," he said. "It’s simply been pushed through the pipeline in the hopes it will not cause a problem."

As the first phase of the plan to develop the new elementary school, The Community School is permitted to construct several new structures, including a 6,700-square-foot administration and education building, a 4,550-square-foot "community room" and a 9,800-square-foot, two-story classroom building.

Phase Two of the project—which will not be allowed to proceed if the school violates its CUP conditions—proposes approximately 10,000 square feet of buildings, including a library and additional classrooms.

The school is planning to open the new Sagewillow campus in 2004.

However, the Sagewillow project, including its Phase One plans, must still go through the city’s design review process before construction can begin.

 

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