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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPOUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT 2004 HIGH SCHOOL - SITE PLAN ADVISORY REVIEW - 43-01A - REPORTS - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGoff' High School Meeting o �b Preston Junior High - February 11, 2002 q ti� E Our biggest concern is dust. After the wind event of the past weekend it seems like an appropriate topic. We brought this up during the Observatory Village meetings. We were told that the developer was responsible for dust control and to call Bob Zakeley of the City if there were problems. Brian Graves of Observatory village was responsive but not very effective. At least we could reach him. City employees are very busy and hard to reach. No help there. Unfortunately, dust has been terrible. Observatory started scraping 94 acres with 9 huge earth movers on August 8. For two or three months they dug and scraped and raised dust. It seems they were shaping the land. Incidentally, I've understood that developers save top soil. Not here. And according to soils people at CSU this area has same of the best soil in all of Larimer County. Once the area was shaped the backhoes started digging deep ditches for storm drains, then sewer and then water. The whole area was covered with big piles of loose dirt very subject to blowing. And then, the earth movers went back into action digging a canyon 16 feet deep roughly the size of a football field. They used the dirt to build a mountain 60 feet tall. Then they dug another canyon and dumped the dirt in the first canyon wetting it down and disking it. Digging successive canyons and filling then in went on for a month or so until they used the mountain to fill in the last canyon. This, I was told, was to mitigate expansive soil. Dust was a constant companion even on calm days. As the sun went dawn there was a pall of dust that we observed in every direction we looked. During this period there were many days with wind but there were 8 with heavy wind that raised stifling, choking clouds of dust for 12 to 36 hours. Visability sometimes reached zero. Many of you here experienced this. We feel grit between our fingers, in our ears and our eyes. Dust settles on windowsills and furniture, and on and IN carpets and clothes in your closets. So once again I bring this up. Partly we'd like to see everyone involved do something to mitigate this severe environmetal problem long term. Why tear up all 94 acres at once; why not do it in stages of smaller acreages? Why tinker with the topography? What's wrong with flat? Homes in old Fort Collins on flat ground remain extremely popular. Don;t disturb ground cover until the infrastructure is in place. Retention depressions are fine but haw about hydroseeding them as they're finished? That's long term. Short term we suggest when the wind blows hard shut down. Pay attention to the forecast. This past weekend the wind had been forecast in plenty of time to get the two gigantic tank wagons out to at least wet down a perimeter area of several hundred feet. Incidentally, we do plan to present Observatory Village with a bill for cleaning - possibly more than once. As to this project, we appeal to the school district to see that it is carried on in an environmetally responible manner with dust control a major objective. We know that class room teachers emphasize environmetal protection. We'd enjoy seeing the school district do the same. Ken and Ethel Ashley 5227 So County Rd 7 Fort Collins, CO 80528 (970) 223-3255 A. Yes, we anticipate seating for about 500 fans. (By comparison, French Field seats about 6,000 fans.) 28. Will all classrooms have windows? A. Yes, that is primary purpose of the courtyard in the north wing. A. While it appears that way, keep in mind that not all 600 students will be in the core school/classroom all at once. Students will be distributed throughout the entire school attending science labs, electives, gym class, performing arts or in the common area or media center. The number of classrooms has been carefully researched and we believe the right amount is being provided. 20. What happens if the "school -within -a-school" concept does not work? A. Good question. The facility is being designed to be adaptable for the core school concept, the block concept or the typical concept that is being used at Fort Collins High School. 21. I can see the District is anticipating a lot of growth in southeast Fort Collins. Where else in District do you have a high school, junior high (Preston) and an elementary school (Zach) all within one mile of each other? This could lead to a lot of traffic congestion on the area streets. A. You are right. While we have lots of examples of placing junior and elementary schools next to each other, adding a high school to the mix does not occur anywhere else in the District. Our transportation impact study indicates that with the improvements to the surrounding public streets, there should not be too much congestion in the short term. 22. You indicate two entrances to control security. Will there be more than two exits? A. Yes, there will be numerous exits in compliance with all applicable building and fire codes. 23. Will the City move the Urban Growth Boundary south of Carpenter Road? A. Response from City: There are no plans to shift the U.G.A. Boundary. To do so would require approval by both the City Council and Board of County Commissioners. 24. Will Transfort serve the campus? A. Response from City: Not at this time. 25. Will there be use of native grass? 26. Yes, we will use low-water grasses in areas where there are no athletic fields. 27. Will there be stadium seating at the soccer/track facility? A. Yes, there will be about 25 spaces located in the circular drive near the front entrance on the south side of the building. 14. Will there be sidewalks for kids to walk on from the neighborhoods? A. Yes, all surrounding streets will be public streets built to City standards. These include detached sidewalks. In addition, the private access drive will feature a sidewalk as well. 15. How many entrances will there be? A. In order to control security, there will be only two entrances. The main one is on the south and the secondary one is on the west at the bus loop. 16. The day -lighting concept sounds good. My experience with day -lighting indicates that you must be careful about diffusing the light so you do not get harsh glare in the classrooms. Otherwise, faculty and staff will simply pull the blinds on sunny days. Will the glass panels be double -pane or triple -pane? Without some careful thought on diffusion, you will not accomplish your energy conserving goals. A. Thank you for this comment. We are working with lighting experts to get the right amount of light in the right places without causing glare and fading of furniture, fixtures, books, etc. The windows are expected to feature double pane glass. 17. Will there be a food court or a cafeteria? A. There will be a cafeteria line, known as a "speed line" just like at Poudre High School, not a food court like Fort Collins High School. 18. The high school is in close proximity to Zach Elementary. I'm concerned about teenage drivers using Cambridge and elementary kids walking to Zach. This could lead to problems. A. We are always concerned about safety. As we do with all schools, we will continue to work with the City Transportation Planning Department on the "Safe Route to School" program. This is an ongoing joint program that looks at the proper installation of traffic control devices, crosswalks, crossing guards and in - school programs. Prior to each school opening, the necessary traffic control devices will be installed. These devices will be evaluated annually to see if they are working or if additional measures need to be taken. 19. Looking at your floor plan, it does not appear as if there are enough classrooms in the core schools for 600 students. Will classes be over -crowded? Are you building a big enough school? A. Unfortunately, the nature of construction sequencing requires over -lot grading and installation of underground utilities all at once, in the beginning of the project. We will abide by normal dust suppression methods such as watering. Our goal is to do all of this work this Spring and Summer in order to establish the drainage of the site to the irrigation/detention pond, and to start growing the grass for the athletic fields. Once this phase is completed, it will be over and done with and ground cover will be established. 8. Will the city park be graded as well? A. No, not at this time. Our understanding is that the city park will not be developed for several years. We think the City will keep the park in agriculture until sufficient building permit fees are generated to start developing the park. 9. Have you determined the bus routes yet? A. No. For transportation purposes, the walk-in area for a high school is two miles. PSD will not provide bus service within this walk-in area. The exact bus routes will depend on the final attendance boundary and be established by the District's Transportation Department. 10. Can the City or the District restrict buses to certain streets? A. Neither the City nor the District has ever restricted buses to certain streets. It is not uncommon for buses to serve residential neighborhoods on local streets since this is where students live. 11. What about drainage? A. The site slopes from northwest to southeast and into the McClelland Channel. The roof and parking lot surfaces will drain water into bio-swales in order to provide water quality treatment. The McClelland channel will convey storm flows into a stormwater detention pond in the southeast corner of the site. This pond will serve both the District and the city park. In addition, the pond will also act as a raw water irrigation pond so treated water is not used to water the fields. This is similar to the current arrangement at Fort Collins High and Stewart Case Park. The conveyance channels and detention pond will be designed for the 100- year storm as per City requirements. 12. How many student parking spaces will there be? A. There will be about 450 per side for a total of 900. 13. Will there be visitor parking? A. At this time, we are not sure. The District has no immediate plans to develop this site. Possibly, the parcel could be sold to a private developer at some point in the future. 3. Could this site become a drive -through restaurant like McDonalds in front of Fort Collins High? A. The parcel is about to be annexed and zoned L-M-N, Low Density Mixed -Use Neighborhood. This zone would not allow a drive -through restaurant. A standard restaurant, however, would be permitted but only as a component of a designated "Neighborhood Center" meeting the design and location requirements of the L-M- N zone. This is more restrictive zoning than the corner of Timberline Road and Horsetooth Road. 4. I'm concerned about the "school -within -a -school" concept. This could lead to student body defined internally by cliques rather than a fully integrated school. I think this is already happening at Poudre High where the I. B. students brought over from other schools do not feel like they are a part of the Poudre student body. High schools should be fully integrated. A. This concept is under the jurisdiction of Gary Bamford, not the Planning, Design and Construction Department. We are told, however, that the three internal "schools" will be for English, Math and Social Studies/History only. Everything else is open for full intermingling of students. Please contact Mr. Bamford for further information or to express your concerns. 5. Will there be any new traffic signals installed with this new high school? A. Not in the short term. As the neighborhoods build -out, we expect a traffic signal at the intersection of Ziegler and Rock Creek. 6. I read in today's paper about using ice as part of the air conditioning system. Could you expand on that? A. The system is in place in the new high school in Loveland and being installed in Zach Elementary. Ice will be made at night. During the day, air will be circulated through the ice and distributed during the day to cool the building. This is more energy efficient than typical air conditioning systems. 7. We live east (downwind) of the site on Strauss Cabin Road. We are concerned about blowing dust during over -lot grading and utility installation. We are already getting dust in our home as a result of the Willow Brook (Observatory Village) project. What will PSD do to control blowing dust? Have you considered phasing the over -lot grading so the entire parcel is not stripped of its ground cover all at once? NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING MINUTES PROJECT: 2004 Poudre School District High School DATE: February 12, 2002 APPLICANT: Poudre School District, Planning Design & Construction c/o Ed Holder John Little Mike Spearnak PLANNER: Ted Shepard The meeting began with a description of the project. The new high school will be approximately 290,000 square feet in size located on a 94-acre campus located on a portion of the Webster Farm that lies north of McClelland Creek. This parcel is south of Rock Creek Drive, east of Ziegler Road (C.R.#9), north of Kechter Road (C.R.36), and west of Cambridge Avenue (extended). The new high school is being planned for 1,800 students in grades ten through twelve. The north wing would be two stories in height. There would be roughly 20 acres of athletic fields, three of which would be illuminated. As planned, there would be 923 student parking spaces and 175 spaces for faculty and staff. The area south of the private access drive and including McClelland Creek consists of approximately 50 acres and is being considered for purchase by the City of Fort Collins for a future community park. The classroom wing is divided into three core schools where students and faculty will be together for English, Math and Social Studies/History. For electives and athletics, the entire student population will mix. This concept is called "school within a school" and has been used successfully in other newly constructed schools in the state. Unless otherwise noted, all responses are from PSD officials. QUESTIONS, CONCERNS AND COMMENTS I'm concerned about the illuminated athletic facilities. Will there be lighting shining in our windows at night? A. No, the illumination is designed to light the fields and not spillover into the adjacent neighborhoods. 2. What do you expect will develop on the out -parcel in the northwest corner?