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HomeMy WebLinkAboutYOUNG PEOPLES LEARNING CENTER - FDP - FDP150020 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 2 - PLANNING OBJECTIVES209 E. Plum Street Young Peoples Learning Center Planning Objectives July 2015 The Reasons We are Young Peoples Learning Center and we are seeking approval for a project which will do great things for children and families in Fort Collins, particularly in the downtown and university districts. We are adding a second story on top of what has been a flat roof for many years. The addition of space will allow us to provide onsite professional services which will greatly add to the quality of care we offer. This addition will also improve the visual presentation of the site for the neighborhood. We are here to provide early childhood education services to children and families specifically because we believe in the power of the change we can make on our community by doing this well. We know that providing these services catches children and families at a critical time in their development. When children are provided services early, they need far fewer interventions in school or as adults and parents themselves Getting kids ready for school needs to be a priority of the Fort Collins community. Doing well in school is critical to success in life and adding these services to our program is one way to maximize the success of young children. Accomplishing these goals has been our focus since 1978. The Project Adding the full additional second story to our building improves aesthetics, energy efficiencies and maintenance demands for the school. Because we are developing the space, we would like to use it to improve the quality of care for the children in our program. Currently, about a third of the building has a second story and we will be adding a second story to the additional two thirds of the building, creating about 1,700 new square feet of office space. We will be renting out this space to professionals who provide services specific to children and families. In our current programs, we bring in speech and language therapists, behavioral and family therapists and occupational therapists to screen our children, provide services to our families and train and coach our teachers. We would instead like to offer these services on site with appropriate spaces. We want to do the best for our children and we want to create a model that works for community child care centers. We do not rely on funds from government or foundations, we accept low-income clients receiving state assistance and we work with community organizations whenever possible. The Numbers Before Remodel After Remodel Number of children served at this location 95 120 Number of Children on grounds at one time during the busiest time of day 65 67 Number of Families Served at all locations 260 275 Number of Staff employed at this location 17 17 Number of staff on grounds at one time, during the busiest time of day 8 – 10 10 – 12 We do anticipate that service providers would want and be able to meet with clients who were not current families of Young Peoples Learning Center. Per city conditions of approval for this project, we will limit appointments from non YPLC clients to be 40% or less of the appointments held by providers in the new office space. We are basing these numbers on several factors. According to the latest findings of the Health and Well-Being of Children Chartbook, 40% of children aged 4 months to 5 years are at risk of developmental delay. With an average of 80 clients at Young Peoples on Plum and 25 clients at Young Peoples on Mathews, that would be 42 clients from two Young Peoples locations. Based on our experience, we assume about 1/3 of these clients would refuse services for one reason or another. We also assume the offices combined would see about 10 clients per day. We believe 30 of the 50 available appointments would be Young Peoples clients with just about 20 spaces available for additional clients. As per Planning and Zoning Board determinations, the professional offices shall primarily serve families and children currently enrolled at Young Peoples Learning Center, with no more than 40 percent of weekly appointments occurring for external clients/patients. Additionally, the number of staff and professional office tenants combined shall not exceed 12 persons at any point in a day. Addition Project Features Bike Parking We are planning multiple bike parking areas. We plan to have a covered parking area at the west most end of our property where parents can park bikes or child trailers for the day that should accommodate up to 10 bikes (or 4 bike trailers.) We will also provide 5 - 10 additional uncovered spots as a service learning project. In addition, we have created an incentive program for staff which includes rewards for riding their bikes to work consistently. Fire Protection The first floor ceiling will receive a second layer of 5/8" drywall on top of the already existing 5/8" drywall. This was already installed in the easternmost classroom during last year's remodel. The second layer of drywall for this phase of building will be confined to the kitchen, entry, and Parrot room classroom. A 1 hour fire rated wall already exists at the storage room and stairwell on the west end of the first floor. The doors in this wall will be replaced with 20 minute fire rated doors. The fire separated spaces will be 4129sf on the first floor and the entire basement and 2765sf on the entire second floor and the stairwell and storage on the first floor. Fencing We will be dismantling all current fencing on the front of the building, refinishing it and relocating any new fencing to our property line. Trash Enclosures We will be building an enclosed area for our dumpsters. This will replace some outdoor storage space we have had before in order to minimalize the impact to our playground. The entrance to this space from the alley will be a “rolling” Parking "No on-site parking is required per the approval of a Modification to Land Use Code Section 3.2.2(K)(1)(h) – Schools, Places of Worship or Assembly and Child Care Centers (off-street parking requirements) by the Planning and Zoning Board on April 9, 2015." Alley Improvements A development agreement will be made with the City for the potential for alley improvements to be potentially necessary with a future development application. City Sanitation Sewer A letter has been provided that the additional load will not impact the city sewer system located under the building. However, a development agreement will exists that will address this issue and state that we, as building owners, will take responsibility for repairing any damage caused by the addition of the second floor.