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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRIDGEVIEW CLASSICAL SCHOOL PHASE IV ADDITION - SPAR - 16-01A - CORRESPONDENCE - (11)3. The third issue regarding the conversion of Lemay Avenue access was proposed by city planning and denied by the Planning and Zoning Board. The school did not request this. While pick up/drop off is a significant issue and should be discussed by the BOE, this specific item is a non -issue. 4. The fourth issue is in regards to an agreement between the original owner of the school property, First Assembly of God church, and the Stuart Professional Park building to the north and across the street from the school. In brief, when the professional building was built, the city allowed them to proceed based on an agreement with the church to use their parking lot during the week to meet the parking capacity code required at that time. This code is no longer in affect; however, the legal agreement is attached to the Ridgeview's property and allows the owners and patrons of the professional building the right to use the Ridgeview parking lot during the week. The proposed expansion to Ridgeview will sit within the parking easement area allowed in the agreement. Unsuccessful attempts by Ridgeview to discuss this agreement with the owners have forced the school to take legal steps to resolve the issue. 5. The fifth and sixth issues address the overall affect the school has had on the residential neighborhood in relationship of its size and operating characteristics; and, the ongoing affects that the building will have regardless of occupancy. I believe the salient issue from these two comments is not necessarily the proper number of students for the building, but, for the capacity of the site. This relates to the adequateness and durability of the site in relationship to the number of students; and, student drop off/pick up, parking and traffic impacts. The optimum population for this program, at this site, has never formally been established. That unanswered question is the bases for all these issues. POUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT INSIGHT MEMO TO: Gary Bamford, Interim Superintendent of Schools FROM: Bill Franzen, Executive Director of Operations THROUGH: Jim Sarchet, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services DATE: June 7, 2004 SUBJECT: PROPOSED EXPANSION OF RIDGEVIEW CLASSICAL SCHOOL The Board of Education will be asked to comment on the building expansion of the Ridgeview Classical School as an Item of Discussion at the June 14 BOE meeting. Attached is a letter from Cameron Gloss, Director of Current Planning and Secretary to the Planning and Zoning Board, City of Fort Collins, requesting a hearing before the Poudre R-1 Board of Education pursuant to C.R.S. 22-32-124. If the Board decides to hold a hearing, it must occur within 30 days of the requested date. Poudre School District legal counsel, Linda Connors, and Paul Eckman, Deputy City Attorney, have agreed that the 30 days began on May 20, 2004, the day of the hearing. The district received the attached letter on May 25. 1 met with Cameron Gloss on May 26 to review the relevance of the letter. Since that time, besides the school district's and cities legal counsel, I have spoken with Kim Miller, Ridgeview Classical School and Leon McCauley, R. C. Heath Construction Co., to review the six bulleted points in the attached letter that were the bases of the denial by the City of Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Board. It has been agreed upon in a subsequent meeting with representatives from Ridgeview and R.C. Heath held June 7, to place the 30 day request on hold, per the recommendation by district and city legal council, until such time that the issue between the Stuart Professional Park and Ridgeview Classical School is resolved. The written recommendation will state that Ridgeview will be allowed the full benefit of a hearing once the issue is resolved and that no construction will occur until that time. It is the recommendation to the Board of Education to agree with and sign the recommendation for a hold on the 30-day time frame for a hearing, along with the City of Fort Collins and Ridgeview Classical School. Synopses of the issues are provided below. 1. The first issue regarding the building size as it relates to the lot size has been contested. There is strong evidence that the city misinterpreted the code and incorrectly sized the building. If this holds true, it would not only be removed from the list, but would remove the argument from the last bulleted issue that address the size and compatibility to the neighborhood. 2. The second issue is a response to the architecture of the building. The city and school district have agreed that while comments on the architecture of a building are welcome, they cannot be used in the decision to allow a school project to be approved.