Manara-CS100121CITY OF COPPELL
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
CASE NO.: S-1 033R3-SF-1 2, Manara Academy
P&Z HEARING DATE: January 21, 2010
C.C. HEARING DATE: February 9, 2010
STAFF REP.: Marcie Diamond, Assistant Director of Planning
LOCATION: 140 S Heartz Road
SIZE OF AREA: 4.58 acres of property
CURRENT ZONING: S- 1033R2 -SF -12 (Special Use Permit -1033 Revision 2- Single
Family -12)
REQUEST: A zoning change to S- 1033R3 -SF -12 (Special Use Permit -1033
Revision 3- Single Family -12), to allow a Charter School for
Grades K -8 with a enrollment capacity of 500, to continue to
occupy this building through the 2014 school year. The church
shall also be permitted to remain as a secondary use on this
property.
APPLICANT: Sadak Shaik
Manara Academy
140 S. Heartz Road
Coppell, Texas 75019
214 - 868 -6472
FAX: 972 - 304 -1150
HISTORY: In 1988, the Final Plat for Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church was
approved by Council. November 1989, SUP -1033 was established
for a church, nursery and school. On July 9, 1998, the Board of
Adjustment approved a temporary shade structure over the
playground which had padded metal poles instead of the required
brick cladding. In January 1999, a revised site plan was approved
to allow a building expansion for a sanctuary, fellowship hall and
additional classrooms, essentially doubling the size of the structure.
In September 1999, a Site Plan Amendment was approved allowing
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the retention of the shade structure in the location as initially
approved, subject to the support poles being clad with brick.
On July 28, 2009 Council approved S- 1033R2 for Manara
Academy subject to the following conditions which were made a
part of the Ordinance establishing this use:
A) This charter school shall be licensed and maintained in
accordance with state law and may provide instruction for
Kindergarten through fifth (5 th ) grade.
B) The student enrollment capacity under this Special Use Permit
shall not exceed three hundred twenty -six (326) students.
C) Religious services and related activities shall be permitted to
remain as an ancillary use.
D) The student transportation bus lane (bus loop), as illustrated
on Exhibit "B ", Site Plan, shall be constructed after receiving
necessary permits and prior to the issuance of a final
Certificate of Occupancy.
E) The Final Plat of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church Addition
shall be replatted to reflect the current configuration of the fire
lanes and ingress and egress on Heartz Road.
F) On -site circulation shall be constructed, maintained and
operated as depicted in Exhibit "F ", 2009 -2010 Traffic
Management Plan, which prohibits queuing on Heartz Road.
G) This Special Use Permit shall expire on June 30, 2010.
H) A ten foot (10') no occupancy (no play zone) area from the
south and eastern property lines shall be established, as
illustrated on Exhibit "G ", attached to and made part of this
ordinance. This no occupancy zone will be established with
cones or other appropriate physical barrier. Staff of the
occupant shall instruct students and staff concerning
compliance in accordance with this condition.
1) School events or other extracurricular activities that occur
during evening hours (after 5 :00 p.m.), will be conducted on
separate evenings to prohibit off -site parking on any adjacent
or other streets, such as: Kindergarten through second (2nd)
grade and third grade (3 through fifth grade (5' or, may
separate alphabetically by student last name, or other similar
separation methods which would minimize or eliminate the
need for off -site parking.
TRANSPORTATION: Heartz Road is a C2U — 2 -lane undivided street within 50 ft of
R.O.W. with 37 feet of paving.
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SURROUNDING LAND USE & ZONING:
North - undeveloped; SF -12
South - Westbury Manor; PD- 166 -SF -7
East - Westbury Manor; PD- 166 -SF -7
West - Braewood West, 2" Revision; SF -7
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: The Comprehensive Plan indicates this area as appropriate
for Public /Institutional uses.
DISCUSSION: Manara Academy's Charter was awarded by the State Board of
Education on November 20, 2008, which permits instruction from
kindergarten through 8th grade with a maximum enrollment of 500
students. An SUP was approved in July of last year to allow the
first year of operation, grades K -5 with a maximum of 326
students. The current request is to allow the Academy to add a
grade level each year over the next 3 years, as provided in their
charter. By year four, there will be a maximum of 500 students
and 50 employees, including teachers and support/administrative
staff members. The hours of operation will continue to be
Monday- Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. On Friday, school will
begin at 8:00 a.m. and dismiss at 1:00 p.m.
A major discussion item prior to granting the SUP to establish this
use for the first year of operation, was traffic and it's potential
impact on the surrounding street system. To address this concern,
the applicant's engineer prepared a detailed Traffic Impact
Analysis (TIA) for full build -out (maximum enrollment of 500
students). This study analyzed the proposed internal circulation
patterns as well as capacities of the surrounding street system.
The results of this study indicated that there was sufficient
capacity on the surrounding street system to support this use and
the Level of Service would not be negatively affected. Traffic
counts were taken in April of 2008 and again on January 12,
2010. There was not an appreciable difference in the amount of
traffic along Heartz Road.
One caveat noted in the Traffic Impact Analysis by the applicant's
traffic engineer, and reiterated by the City's consulting traffic
engineer is that for the on -site system to work, the employees
need to be well trained and parents need to be cooperative. To
that end, during the first five months of operation, no queuing on
Heartz was observed nor complaints received.
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Concerns were expressed about the potential for dropping off and
picking up students on the surrounding streets. There is a
prohibition of parking (which by ordinance includes stopping and
standing) along the east side of Heartz between Sandy Lake and
Park Meadow Way. Prior to the opening of the Academy a similar
parking prohibition was placed along London Way between Sandy
Lake and 300 feet north of Westbury Drive on school days during
peak drop off and pick up times. Since the school opened, only
one complaint was received that a student was dropped off on
one of these streets.
Another concern expressed prior to the establishment of this SUP
was that there would be parking on the surrounding streets in the
evenings for special events. A condition of the SUP addressed
that issue as follows:
"School events or other extracurricular activities that occur
during evening hours (after 5 :00 p.m.), will be conducted on
separate evenings to prohibit off -site parking on any adjacent
or other streets and to minimize or eliminate the need for off -
site parking ".
Again, as of this date, only one complaint was received, and that
was during their open house on August 21 Casual observation
at any of our elementary schools at open houses, meet the
teacher or similar events, results in significant on- street parking
blocks away from the school.
Since the 1 St day of operation until January 6, 2010, the city
received approximately 100 complaints, expressed as Requests
for Service though the city's website which designated Manara
Academy as the Problem Location . Of the those received:
■ Approximately 60% were submitted as anonymous, and
• Approximately 30% were submitted by one household.
The following is a summary of the types of complaints:
• Approximately 42% related to trash and dumpster usage
o The Environmental Health Officer responded to each
complaint and the alleged violation (trash sticking out of
dumpster, dumpster is overflowing, smell coming from
the dumpster, bag of dog waste on London Way etc.)
was not apparent.
• Approximately 20% related to excessive noise from
screaming /loud children, both on and off -site.
o The Police and Planning Departments responded that
these were not citable nor observable offences.
• Approximately 15% related to cars speeding through the
school zone.
o Although this is not attributable to the operations of the
school, directed enforcement was conducted by the
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Police Department, which is standard operating
procedure when complaints are received..
• There were several entries relating to the compliance with the
internal Traffic Management Plan.
o When city staff observed this operation it appeared to be
compliant, and no written or verbal complaints of cars
queuing on Heartz were received.
• Finally, there were five Requests for Public Information, which
were fulfilled by the Secretary's Office in a timely manner.
All of the Requests for Service were responded to by the appropriate city staff
and have all been closed.
In sum, this school has be operating in compliance with the regulations of the
existing SUP, and continuation, with the increased enrollment for the next four
school years, warrants a favorable recommendation, subject to the conditions
as detailed below.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION:
Staff is recommending APPROVAL OF S- 1033R3, subject to the following conditions
which will be made apart of the ordinance:
A) This charter school shall be licensed and maintained in accordance with state
law and may provide instruction for Kindergarten through eighth (8` grade.
B) The student enrollment capacity under this Special Use Permit shall not exceed
five hundred (500) students.
C) Religious services and related activities shall be permitted to remain as an
ancillary use.
D) On -site circulation shall be maintained and operated as depicted in Exhibit "F",
2010 -2014 Traffic Management Plan, which prohibits queuing on Heartz Road.
E) This Special Use Permit shall expire on June 30, 2014.
F) A ten foot (10') no occupancy (no play zone) area from the south and eastern
property lines shall be maintained, as illustrated on Exhibit "G ", attached to and
made part of this ordinance.
G) This no occupancy zone has been established with cones or other appropriate
physical barrier. Staff of the occupant will continue to instruct students, staff
and parents concerning compliance in accordance with this condition.
H) School events or other extracurricular activities that occur during evening hours
(after 5:00 p.m.), will be conducted on separate evenings to prohibit off -site
parking on any adjacent or other streets and to minimize or eliminate the need
for off -site parking.
ITEM # 5
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ALTERNATIVES:
1. Recommend approval of the request
2. Recommend disapproval of the request
3. Recommend modification of the request
4. Take under advisement for reconsideration at a later date
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Letter from Scot A. Johnson, P.E., PTOE, Kimely -Horn
2. Site Plan
3. Floor Plan
4. Traffic Management Plan
ITEM # 5
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