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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Comm Reports/1979/12/19 AGENDA City Planning Commission Chula Vista, California Conference Room 3 Wednesday, December 19, 1979 - 5:00 p.m. Public Services Building 1. Discussion of EIR process and the relationship between the certification of the EIR and action on the project 2. Discussion of draft standards for private schools (attached) 3. Director's Comments 4. Commission Comments 5. 7:00 p.m. adjourn to Black Angus to discuss Council actions on Planning Commission's recommendations and upcoming developments December 12, 1979 To: D.J. Peterson, Director of Planning From: Daniel M. Pass, AICP Senior Planner Steve Griffin, AICP Assistant Planner Subject: Private School Site Planning Standards A. BACKGROUND ~. 1. Pursuant to your instructions of November 15, 1979, the Advance Planning Division has prepared the private nursery school and private elementary school standards which are embodied in the "Design Standards" section of this report. The Division, during the course of this preparation utilized the standards and criteria suggested by several authoritative works of city planners, townscape planners, landscape architects, and professional recreators. The attached bibliography credits these sources. 2. Special mention must be made of the services rendered by Robert W. Sennett, the City Landscape Architect, whom provided much information and guidance. Mr. Sennett, over a period of twelve years, participated in the planning and replanning of more than 200 school campuses. B. Design Standards for the Site Planning of Private Nursery and Elementary Schools (Kindergarten through the 6th Grade) 1. Nursery Schools a. Students per acre (maximum) 60 b. Students per classroom (maximum) 15 c. Building floor area (minimum)/classroom 1,000 sq. ft. d. Play area/150 students 1.85 ac. e. Basic Allocation of play areas (1) Turf 75% (2) Hardscape, courts, walks 15% (3) Untreated areas (sand, dirt, equipment) 10% f. Area of 150-student nursery school 2.5 ac. g. Off-street parking 1.0 space/2 classrooms Notes The above site-planning standards for nursery schools were developed, to a very limited extent, from information secured from several sources. The Advance Planning Division found very little authority on the subject, and therefore was required to develop in-office criteria. The suggested 2.5 acre site for a lO-classroom school would accon~nodate the class- room building, play area, landscape areas, and off-stre:t parking area. Page 2 2. Elementary Schools (K thru 6) a. Students per acre (maximum) 45 b. Students per classroom (maximum) 30 c. Building floor area (minimum)/classroom 1,000 sq. ft. d. Play area/150 students 2.75 acres e. Basic Allocation of play areas (1) Turf 50% (2) Hardscape, courts, walks 30% (3) Untreated areas (sand, dirt, equipment) 20% f. Area of the si~ of a 150-student elementary school 3.4 acres g. Off-street parking (minimum) 1.0 space/classroom + 3 spaces Notes In California, a standard site for a two-unit, 500-student elementary school is ten acres. It is predicated upon the formula of "five acres per elementary school, plus one acre per each one-hundred students." The California density standard is supported by the authors of authoritative American urban planning texts, including Chapin, Eisner, Koppelmann, and Nez. Prior to 1959, the Ministry of Education of Great Britain mandated the California density standard. Its subsequent reduction has been almost universally attacked by British town and country planners, and by the leading British planning theorist, Lewis Keeble. The California standard primarily governs public schools, but there is no sound argument against its application to private elementary schools. The recreational and educational space needs of children remain constant, notwithstanding the owner- ship of the elementary school. Despite this constancy, the Planning Department has found that most private schools are situated on small sites, and do not meet the standards proposed in this paper.* C. CONCLUSION The proposed site planning standards are designed to provide the Planning Commission, City Council, City staff and developers guidelines for the siting and establishment of private nursery and elementary schools in Chula Vista. These standards, under certain circumstances, could be varied, and therefore should not be regarded as firm regulations. * Site Evaluation of Four Private Schools Required Site Area/ Elementary School Area of Site No. of Students Draft Standards Pilgrim Lutheran 0.7 Ac. 112 2.5 Ac. St. Pius X 3.2 Ac. 255 5.7 Ac. St. Rose of Lima 2.3 Ac. 226 5.0 Ac. S. D. Hebrew Day School 1.9 Ac. 202 5.0 Ac. Bibliography Chapin, F. Stuart, Jr., Urban Land Use Planning. Urbana, 1963. University of Illinois Press. District S~andards, A Guide for School Construction. San Diego: 1976. San Diego Unified School District. De Chiara and Koppelmah, Planning Design Criteria. New York: 1969. Van Nost~and Reinhold Company. Englehardt, N., Complete Guide for Planning New Schools. Inglewood Cliffs, N.J.: 1970. Parker Publishing Company, Inc. Gallion and Eisner, The Urban Pattern, City Planning and Design, 3rd Ed., New York: 1975. D. Van Nostrand Company. Keeble, Lewis, Principles and Practice of Town and Country Planning, 4th Edition. London: 1972. The Estates Gazette Limited McLean, Mary, Editor, Local Planning Administration. Chicago: 1959. ICMA.