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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSU - WASHINGTON SCHOOL - APU - SPA110001 - REPORTS - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING36. Is the alley public? A. Yes. 37. You need to deal with traffic management, open playground and lighting. How will we know that these issues will be properly addressed? Will you set up a web site? A. Yes, we could set up a website — good idea. 38. Who will do all the work? C.S.U. crews or private contractors? A. Private contractors. 39. There should be amenities provided for bicyclists. Bike parking should be convenient, covered and well -illuminated. A. These are good suggestions. When the weather is nice, many of our faculty, staff and students, and even some parents and children, ride their bikes instead of driving. 40. Is the current playground on Lake Street open to the public? A. No it is not. 41. Will snow removal on surrounding streets remain at the current level of service? A. I don't know, we will have to check in with the City's Street Department. 29. It would be helpful it C.S.U. prepared more details describing the operational and functional aspects of the facility. It would also be helpful to then compare this with the former school. The answers tonight are vague and the neighbors need more specific answers. A. We are at the beginning of our process and have not even purchased the property yet. As we get further into our analysis, we will have more specifics on operational characteristics. 30. 1 would like to again emphasize that as neighbors, we would appreciate having public access to the playground. The facility acts like a pocket park and, as neighbors, we take a measure of ownership and keep an eye on the property and the activities. I encourage C.S.U. to provide as much openness as possible, including weekends. A. We understand and will look into State regulations as to security. 31. Will the facility offer the neighbors a community room for holding meetings? A. Yes, we can accommodate neighborhood meetings. 32. 1 do not like the appearance of the chain link fence as it is high and there is so much of it. Could a different fencing material be used? A. We cannot go to solid wood but are willing to look at ways to soften the appearance of the chain link. 33. What will be the impact on our property values? A. I don't know but we see our facility to be similar to the school which we think is a positive attribute for the neighborhood. 34. Getting back to the drop-off and pick-up traffic, I would hate to see a stack of cars lined up Olive Street and then stacking back to Shields Street. This would cause a lot of congestion problems. A. We agree and admit that we need to put some more thought in traffic management. 35. Perhaps you could add another westbound lane on the north side of Olive Street as the designated drop-off and pick-up lane. A. We can look into this with the City of Fort Collins. R 21. Are you planning on having parents dropping off children on Olive Street? A. Yes, this is logical location for parents to park. There is no "drop-off' per se as parents must accompany their child into the school. Our understanding is that Olive Street was used by the Lab School parents as well. 22. Will drop-off be allowed on Scott Street as well? A. Yes, parents would be permitted to park on Scott Street. 23. The drop-off function needs to be better defined. It appears that the drop-off activity will exceed the capacity of the street. A. We will look into having a management plan for this activity. Note again that children arriving and departing is staggered throughout the day. We may have an outside traffic manager staffing this activity so that traffic impact on the two public streets is kept to a minimum. 24. There should be no parking on the south side of Olive Street so children do not have to cross the street. A. We will look into this with the City as they control the on -street parking. 25. 1 am concerned about additional traffic in the alley. A. Traffic in the alley will be restricted to staff only as it serves the north parking lot. We do not want parents using the alley. The amount of traffic should be roughly the same as it was for the school. 26. Will you be paving the alley? A. At this time, we think we will be required by the City to pave the alley. 27. Will there be any changes to the traffic signal on Shields Street? A. The traffic signal is pedestrian -actuated for a school crossing and is under the jurisdiction of the City. We will check with the City as to whether or not it is still needed since our facility is not a walk-in facility like a typical school. 28. Do you plan on building any sound attenuation along Shields Street? A. We have no plans at this time to build any sound attenuation. 5 14. 1 live nearby and am concerned about too much lighting. I do not want any site lighting spilling over into the neighborhood. A. We will check to make sure that there is no light spillage off the property. 15. Will the handicap ramps meet A.D.A. grade of 1:12? A. Yes. And, at the same time, we are trying to minimize the aesthetic impact of constructing the new ramps. We are trying to make the ramps as compact as possible yet still comply with grade standards. The ramps are being designed to not interfere with usable space and not impact the historic character of the architecture. There will be no ramps on the east and west elevations as these elevations are considered to have more historic integrity than the north and south elevations. 16. Will the area under the ramps and landings be enclosed? I am concerned about creating hiding spaces as an unintended consequence of the new ramps. A. Good comment. We will look into this. 17. Will the playground be open to the public? A. This will likely depend on State licensing requirements. The playground may have to be locked when the facility is closed due to security. 18. Will the open lawn area to the east remain open? A. Yes, this area will probably stay open. 19. Have you considered putting the handicap ramps on the east side instead of on the south side? A. This was discussed with the City's Historic Preservation staff and, as mentioned, the east and west elevations are considered to have a greater historic integrity than the north and south elevations. 20. Are you planning any building expansion toward the southeast? A. No expansions are planned for this area. 4 9. What are your hours of operation? A. We are open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Please note that not all of our students arrive and depart en masse. 10. How is the staffing divided between faculty and students? A. At any one time, there could be up to 30 staff onsite. There would be a combination of full-time staff, graduate and under -graduate students and a receptionist. Typically, there would be one full-time faculty per classroom accompanied by two to three students. For this new facility, we expect to add about ten babies attended to by two to three staff. 11. 1 am concerned if the parking lot is sufficient for all the staff and students expected to be onsite. A. The parking lot is on the north side of the building and should be capable of providing enough spaces for the expected staff. Note that we may slightly modify the parking configuration and we will discourage exiting onto Shields via the alley as there is an existing six foot privacy fence on the neighboring property that partially obscures sight distance. 12. 1 live to the north across the alley and am concerned about stormwater runoff. Over the years, PSD has added gravel to the north parking lot and now this area is actually raised above natural grade. So if you pave this area, be aware that the grade has been altered. A paved parking lot, combined with roof drainage, will generate stormwater runoff that needs to be analyzed so it is properly directed away from the lots on the north side of the alley. A. We are aware of the amount of gravel in the north parking lot and know that we have to solve the problem of ponding and runoff. We know we have to design a proper drainage conveyance so that stormwater flows southeast into our front yard and not north across the alley onto the adjacent lots. In addition, the City may require us to add water quality treatment to the runoff which was not a requirement when the school was built. 13. Did you say earlier that the program is reserved for C.S.U. faculty, staff and students? A. Yes, this project is being funded by student activity fees that the students voted to approve. Therefore, C.S.U. faculty, staff and students get first priority on enrollment. If there is space available, enrollment is open to the general public. 3 Questions, Concerns, Comments 1. How old is the building? A. The building was built in 1918. It was designed by the same architect and built approximately at the same time as the Harris School on East Elizabeth Street. 2. Are there problems with asbestos or mold? A. No. 3. How many families do you presently serve and how many would you expect by moving to a larger facility? A. We presently serve 58 families and expect to grow to roughly 100. 4. Would this be a drop -in facility? A. No, this is not a drop -in facility. Children are enrolled on a semester basis that matches the term of the C.S.U. schedule. 5. How many students were enrolled in the PSD Lab School? A. Approximately 100 — 120. 6. Would the facility be open in the summer? A. Yes, the summer term matches the C.S.U. summer term. 7. Will you then be adding air conditioning? A. Yes, we plan on adding air conditioning. 8. 1 live nearby and do not have air conditioning so my windows are open and I am concerned about the noise of the children playing outside. A. Unfortunately, there is probably nothing we can do about that. Kids playing outside tend to raise a bit of a ruckus but this will only occur during outdoor play time and during the day just as if this were a normal elementary school. There is no evening program so the noise level will cease after closing. FA NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING SUMMARY PROJECT: Washington School — C.S.U. Childcare Center — Addition of a Permitted Use and Site Plan Advisory Review DATE: March 7, 2011 APPLICANT: Brian Chase, C.S.U. Facilities Department Mike Rush Fred Haberecht Per Hogestad CITY PLANNER: Ted Shepard, Chief Planner, City of Fort Collins The meeting began with a description of the project. Colorado State University and the Department of Human Development and Family Studies are in the process of purchasing the Washington School from the Poudre School District. The proposal is to convert the facility from a public school for elementary and intermediate education to a child care center/pre-school. The building contains approximately 18,350 square feet on 1.75 acres on Block 7 of the Scott Sherwood Subdivision. The building and playground would be preserved. The site is located between Shields Street and Scott Street and bounded by Olive Street and the east — west alley that bisects the block. The site is zoned N-C-L, Neighborhood Conservation Low Density. This zone normally does not allow child care center as a permitted use. The Zoning Code, however, allows for the Addition of a Permitted Use process for individual properties. The final decision would be made by the City of Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Board. The development plan will be processed as a Site Plan Advisory Review in accordance with State Statutes. From an operational perspective, the facility combines an early childhood development center with teaching opportunities for C.S.U. students. There will be full-time staff combined with students gaining experience in the field. The current facility is in the Gifford building on campus but space is limited. The additional space gained by moving to Washington School will allow the program to add classrooms and services for infants and toddlers. In accordance with State licensing requirements, handicap ramps and exit doors must be added as well as fire sprinkler system and elevator. The outdoor playground will be enhanced. Enrollment is first reserved for C.S.U. faculty, staff and students and usually there is a waiting list. If space permits, enrollment is open to the public.