Charter School: Next Hearing Is

March 21

Mary Bussing intends continue to fight the rezoning petition to build the Honor Academy Charter Elementary School at 3440 Guion Road to the very end. The school is to be operated by National Heritage Academies.
“The school exit will be 14 feet from my property,” she said. “This is affecting my property value despite the Metropolitan Development Commission Hearing Examiner’s opinion that values would increase because an educational institution would attract families to locate in a medium density residential area.” The decision to forward the petition favorably also included compatibility with the comprehensive plan that a school would connect with a residential area.
Although the hearing examiner discussed the school’s proximity would be in walking distance for students, it ignored the fact that charter schools are open to anyone as long as there is space. This means the school can serve students in a broader area than just the five-mile radius that the school’s marketing survey showed there was support for. The hearing examiner forwarded the petition to the Metropolitan Development Commission for the next hearing level on March 21. Bussing is wasting no time to appeal the examiner’s decision to rezone the 14.47 acres from D-3 to SU2. Bussing filed the appeal March 5.
Bussing does not oppose charter schools in general, it is this particular site plan parking lot layout that engulfs her home at 3430 Guion Road. The charter school agreed to commitments to add six-foot fence, landscaping, downward facing lights, tree preservation, buffering and screening. Bussing said the commitments ignore her property and only serve to assuage the homeowners on Marsella Lane.
Charter School Attorney Steve Mears said another condition of the commitment is looking into the possibilities of extending sewers to the north side of Marsella Lane. The homes are currently on septic systems. The homeowners would be financially responsible to extend the sewers and to grant easements to connect to their homes from the school property.
Although homeowners from Westview Neighborhood Association and Flackville Neighborhood Association are officially remonstrating the rezoning, Bussing alone is making the appeal.
Nada Maynard, representing Flackville Neighborhood Association, was concerned about children’s safety because of the high traffic volume, blinding curves on Guion Road and drainage issues.
The petitioners said they would add flashing lights and signage to notify drivers that a school zoned existed. Gary Murray of Schneider Engineering explained the detention pond was higher than the 100-year flood requirement to prevent overflows. The drainage system also included a gravity outlet device to siphon water out the discharge pipe if the Little Eagle Creek rose higher than the drainage outlet. This is designed to prevent water runoff from flowing onto the neighbors’ properties.
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