Charter School Rezoning Petition Approved

(posted Mar 22)
The Metropolitan Development Commission gave the OK on March 21 to rezone 3440 Guion Road to a special use zone that will allow Honor Academy Charter School to build its new kindergarten through eighth grade facility. The charter school will be operated by National Heritage Academies.

The commission's 8-0 vote indicated the site plan and the nine commitments would sufficiently address remonstrators' concerns about drainage, traffic, flooding, and nuisances that will change their quality of life zoned in a single-family residential area.

Remonstrators have had a continual uphill battle to convince the commission and the petitioner that flooding is a real threat and the site layout would cause economic harm to Mary Bussing's property located at 3430 Guion Road.

Prepared with photographs and a site plan, Bussing visually informed the commissioners how the site layout engulfed her property. Bussing contended she will suffer with light pollution from the parking lot lights and car lights beaming into her windows. The school drive borders her property.

Photos of accidents also illustrated her point that Guion Road's blinding curves cannot handle additional traffic once 704 students are enrolled. She noted the road has been designated a level 5, meaning it is marginal to unacceptable to place more traffic on to the road.

Bussing explained she did not agree to the developer's nine commitments because she was not invited to the third meeting between residents and school officials. She noted that flood plains allow for zero development, and paving over the wetlands would cause more water to spread onto the surrounding properties. Bussing filed an appeal from the hearing examiner March 1 approval to forward the petition to the MDC.

Steve Mears, representing Charter Development LLC, said part of the nine commitments include downward lighting, buffering, landscaping, and a 1,000 linear foot fence. Engineers have addressed the drainage problems with a detention pond and gravity outlet device to siphon water out of the pipes to control the discharge into Little Eagle Creek.

Planning Staff member Larry Williams said staff did not request a traffic count and did not consider the counts in the investigation. He noted the Department of Public Works thought it would be an unfair burden to require Charter Development LLC to take out the curves in the road. The petitioner has agreed to pay for the school zone flashing lights to be installed to slow cars down in the area. Staff continued to give favorable support to rezone the property.

Although Williams could not guarantee the residents would never experience flooding again, he noted the proposed building structure is located in the flood fringe, not in the flood plain.