File Number	Brief Description	Hearing/Decision	Date
2003-0452	Use Permit for new Stratford School	Administrative Hearing	2003

 

In summer 2003, Stratford School requested a Use Permit for a private school to allow up to 440 students and 27 full time staff.  After comments were received from the City’s Transportation Division, it was determined that a traffic impact analysis would be required.  Under the City’s current policy, any proposed use that generates an increase of 100 peak hour trips or more, over the previous use, is subject to a traffic impact analysis and environmental review.  Stratford School’s projected peak trip generation rate exceeded this 100-trip generation threshold and, therefore, would have required a traffic study.

 

At that time, the applicant was not averse to completing these additional studies but found that the additional level of review would not allow them to meet their projected timeline.  The applicant stated that it was critical for the school to be open by the start of the regular school year in September 2003.  As a result, the applicant modified the project to reduce the maximum number of proposed students from 440 down to 258.  A reduction in the maximum number of students decreased the number of additional peak trips to be less than 100, therefore, a traffic study was not required.  The Use Permit was approved at the City’s Administrative Hearing on August 4, 2003.

 

Now the applicant is requesting to increase the maximum enrollment up to the originally requested 440 students. 

 

Planning Commission Hearing:  On July 26, 2004, the Planning Commission reviewed this application and received testimony from five members of the public.  The speakers were concerned with a variety of issues, including, traffic safety, increased traffic volumes resulting from this application, lack of crosswalks on nearby streets, and lack of on-site parking for the school. (See Attachment 6 for additional details)  Following public testimony, the Planning Commission discussed the merits and impacts of the proposal and voted 4-2 to approve the Use Permit with conditions.  The Commission generally felt that the increased enrollment would increase the traffic in the area, but the increase would not be a significant impact to the neighborhood.  Several Commissioners stated that their decision to recommend approval of the project was a difficult one, but also stated that the Transportation Demand Management program would help to mitigate potential traffic problems in the future.

 

The Planning Commission added one Condition of Approval stating that the turn-out on Pastoria Avenue shall not be used for loading and unloading operations.  The Commission was concerned that this turn-out does not have sufficient length to accommodate loading operations and could cause queuing onto Pastoria Ave.  This condition has been incorporated into the Recommended Conditions of Approval as #8 in Attachment 2.

 

 

Stratford School is an existing private school located at the site previously occupied by the City of Sunnyvale’s Senior Center, and formerly operated as a public school (Adair School) by the Sunnyvale School District.  Stratford is a year round private school consisting of preschool and elementary schools from grades K through 8^th.  The regular school day hours are from 8:00am to 3:30pm.  There is also extended care offered before and after school from 7:00am until 6:00pm.  Special events such as back-to-school night and open house are held during the evening hours on an intermittent basis only.  The maximum capacity of the school facility, according to the applicant, is 440 students with approximately 27 full-time staff positions.  The applicant has applied to increase enrollment up to the facility’s maximum capacity.

 

The proposed use is similar in nature to Stratford’s other private school in Sunnyvale, at the DeAnza School site.  The school is in its fourth year of operation and has an average yearly enrollment of 560 students.

 

Environmental Review

 

A Mitigated Negative Declaration has been prepared for this project in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act provisions and City Guidelines.  An initial study has determined that, with mitigation, the proposed project would not create any significant environmental impacts (see Attachment 3, Initial Study).

 

The recommended mitigation measures relate to the traffic impacts that will be generated during drop-off and pick-up times at the school.  The mitigation includes phasing of class start and end times, in order to phase the drop-off and pick-up times.  These mitigation measures are included in the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Recommended Conditions of Approval.

 

 

Use:  The existing school operates on a year round basis, with the regular school year session beginning in September and ending in mid-June.  Summer session would start in early July and end in mid-August.  The hours of operation and dates of school sessions are not proposed to be modified with this Use Permit.

 

There are 440 students proposed for preschool and grades K through 8^th.  Approximately 56% of these students will attend preschool classes and the remaining 44% will attend grades K through 8^th.  The applicant estimates that 50% of the total number of students will be from Sunnyvale.  Just over 40% of the students at Stratford’s other school site, DeAnza School, are from Sunnyvale.

 

Site Layout: The existing 25,550 square foot building is comprised of approximately 15 classroom spaces, offices, and an auditorium.  The applicant has installed two children’s playground areas.  The first is the preschool playground in the courtyard area between the classroom buildings, and the second is the elementary school playground, to the back of the school near the Sunnyvale School District parking lot. 

 

Architecture: The applicant is not proposing any major physical improvements to the interior or exterior of the building.  This proposal requires no site or building modifications due to the similarity between the previous and proposed uses.

 

Landscaping/Open Space:  Current landscaping on site consists of multiple lawn areas throughout the site and several planting areas.  21% of the site is currently landscaped, which is slightly greater than the 20% required by City code. 

 

The project site is located adjacent to the City’s Washington Park.  Stratford uses this park on an intermittent basis for special events that are lager than their facility is able to accommodate.  The Department of Parks and Recreation has stated there have been no problems with Stratford’s use of the park over this past year.  The Parks Department also stated they do not foresee any problems in the future resulting from the proposed expansion of the school.

 

Parking/Circulation:  There are currently 54 parking spaces on site, of which 7 are accessible spaces.  The proposed expansion will require only 53 parking spaces, so it conforms to the City’s parking requirements.  The following table reflects the required parking at the site:

 

Stratford School - Site Parking Analysis
Type of Use	Number of Employees and Classrooms	Parking Ratio	Number of Parking Spaces Req.
Preschool	18 employees 192 children	1 space/ 1 employee = 18 1 space/ 14 children = 14	32 min.
Grades K – 8th	7 classrooms	3 space/ classroom = 21	21 min.
Total Parking Spaces Required for Site			53 spaces

 

Traffic Study

 

The Traffic Division of the Public Works Department determined that a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) was required for this project.  This determination was made based on the fact that the proposed increase in student enrollment would cause an increase in the total number of peak hour trips by over 100.  Under Sunnyvale Municipal Code, an increase of 100 or more peak hour trips triggers a TIA. 

 

A TIA was submitted to the City by Hexagon Transportation Consultants, Inc.  The study analyzed the proposed project’s impact in three areas: 1) key intersection level of service, 2) traffic impacts to the surrounding residential neighborhood, and 3) loading and unloading operations impacts.  The study made the following conclusions about the three potential impact areas.  First, the project would not result in an adverse level of service impact at any of the key intersections studied.  Second, the increase in traffic created by the project will not reach a threshold that will be noticeable by surrounding residents.  Third, the proposed project will clearly create a traffic demand from student loading and unloading operations that exceeds the ability of the site to accommodate. 

 

The applicant does not propose to reconfigure the site to expand queuing or parking capabilities, and a review by a professional traffic engineering firm (Hexagon Transportation Consultants, Inc.) did not result in identification of any feasible physical changes.  Therefore, in order to the site to accommodate the traffic demand from the proposed project, a significant Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program is required to mitigate impacts from student loading and unloading.  This program shall be based on managing student drop off and pick up at thresholds determined by the project traffic study.  Staff further recommends that the project be conditioned to require review of TDM efforts by the Director of Community Development and the Transportation and Traffic Manager.  Modification to the allowable enrollment shall be made in the event that transportation demand management efforts are determined to be insufficient or ineffective.

 

Historically, there have been traffic issues from the perspective of the surrounding residents in this area.  This is due primarily to the two previous uses at the site and secondarily to the pass through traffic that normally circulates through this area.  The previous uses were the City of Sunnyvale’s Senior Center (25 years) and the Adair Elementary School, which was the original occupant at the site.  Staff believes there will not be a significant effect on the surrounding neighborhood with the proposed mitigation. 

 

The TIA was submitted to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for review, per Congestion Management Program guidelines.  VTA staff comments had to do with cumulative condition traffic analysis and bicycle parking.  Staff’s response is that the timeframe for completion of the proposed project is not suited to requiring a cumulative analysis, therefore none was required.  With regard to bike parking, the VTA bike parking standards for an elementary school are as follows:

 

• One Class I space for each 30 employees,
• One Class I space for each 24 students, and
• One Class II space for each 24 students.

Class I spaces are defined as bike parking in a secure area (within a fenced off area or within a building).  Class II spaces are typical bike racks.

As noted in the TIA, Stratford school currently has a bike rack that could accommodate approximately five bikes.  However, no students currently bike to school and none are expected to as a result of the proposed project.  The students at Stratford School are very young and few live within a reasonable biking distance.  For security reasons, the school requires that young children be escorted by an adult to and from the campus.

To ensure that bicycle parking needs are met on campus, it is recommended that the school provide Class I bicycle parking spaces per the VTA recommendations for school employees.  Additional parking for students is not warranted given the nature of the proposed use and transportation restrictions placed on families that attend the school.  The school's current practice is to allow teachers who ride bicycles to work, to bring their bikes in the classroom, This practice meets VTA Class I requirements.

 

Transportation Impact Fee

 

This project is subject to the Transportation Impact Fee.  Condition of Approval 13 requires compliance with the traffic impact fees to be paid prior to the start of the next school session on September 7, 2004.

 

Expected Impact on the Surrounding Neighborhood

 

The project site is surrounded on two sides by low-medium density residential uses and by public open space (Washington Park and the Sunnyvale School District administrative offices on the other two sides).  Staff expects there will be an increase in peak hour traffic near the site, but believes this increase will not be a significant impact to the surrounding neighbors.  The increase in traffic will be mitigated by the staggered hours of operation at the school and the Transportation Demand Management program.

 

Compliance with Development Standards

 

The proposed project complies with all current development standards.  No further improvements are required at this time.

 

Expected Impacts for Sunnyvale Schools

 

This site is located within the Sunnyvale School District boundaries.  Stratford estimates that 50% of their students population, or about 220 students, will be Sunnyvale residents.  This is a significant number of students who will attend private school, rather than public schools, and may help to provide relief to Sunnyvale classrooms. 

 

In addition to providing help to Sunnyvale schools, this project will also provide financial income for the Sunnyvale School District.  Sunnyvale School District owns this property and leases the site to Stratford.  The School District stated that this was a desirable lease since the site has a limited number of potential tenants who could use such a facility.

 

Appeal

 

This application was appealed by two neighbors on August 10, 2004.  The appellants’ justification is based on the following information submitted in their letter of appeal. (See Attachment #5)

 

·         There will not be adequate emergency access for the surrounding residents when the school is in operation.

·         There will be level of service problems at intersections in the surrounding area.  Residents have already complained to Public Safety on numerous occasions about existing level of service problems.

·         The Senior Center was a less impacting use than Stratford, due to different types of operations.

·         Adair Elementary School may have had a similar enrollment as Stratford is now proposing, but Adair operated at a time when most students walked or biked to school.  In addition, the low-medium density housing development (Somerset) did not exist in the area at that time.

·         Neighboring residents are already experiencing traffic problems under Stratford’s current enrollment, including queuing onto the street.

·         The parking ratios from the City Code do not accurately reflect the operation of Stratford.

·         The existing facility cannot accommodate 440 students.  The applicant may eventually build a two-story building to accommodate these students.

·         The staggering of class start and end times cannot practically be implemented.

 

Staff researched the issue of residents filing complaints with the Department of Public Safety (DPS).  DPS stated that one complaint was received between September 1, 2003 and July 1, 2004, which was the first year of operation of Stratford School.  DPS also stated that a petition from residents on Washington and Pastoria Avenues was submitted to them regarding speeding in the area, but did not specifically site complaints about Stratford School.  DPS responded to this petition with two focused enforcement actions in the area.  The two actions were completed at separate times and produced a total of 30 speeding tickets.  Public Safety will continue to monitor the problem and will continue to have focused enforcement actions when necessary.  This petition was also forwarded to the City’s Transportation Division, who will explore various approaches to traffic calming on those streets.

 

Traffic and parking have already been analyzed and addressed in the staff report.  Staff does not believe there will be a significant impact to the surrounding neighbors resulting from this project. 

 

 

Staff was able to make the required Findings based on the justifications for the Use Permit. 

 

·         Findings and General Plan Goals are located in Attachment 1.

·         Conditions of Approval are located in Attachment 2.

 

 

No fiscal impacts are expected.

 

 

Notice of Mitigated Negative Declaration and Public Hearing	Staff Report	Agenda