MINUTES OF MEETING

PLANNING COMMISSION

DECEMBER 20, 2011

 

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Members Present:  Gustafson, Long, Bishop, Brown

                                

Presence Noted:   Andrew Bemer, Law Director

                             Kevin Beirne, Building Commissioner

                                      

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Mr. Bishop called to order the December 20, 2011 meeting of the Planning Commission at 7:00 P.M. in Council Chambers of Rocky River City Hall.

 

Mr. Bishop asked if there are any corrections, additions, or deletions to the November 15, 2011 meeting minutes.

 

Ms. Brown said that there is a typographical error in the last paragraph of page 2.   The word “moot” is misspelled.  

 

Mr. Long made a motion to approve the minutes as amended.  Mr. Gustafson seconded.

 

4 Ayes – 0 Nays

Approved

 

 

 

1.  ROCKY RIVER BOARD OF EDUCATION – GOLDWOOD PRIMARY SCHOOL – 21600 Center Ridge Rd. – PUBLIC HEARING.  Mr. Tom Veider, Stantec Architecture and Mr. Rob Jurs, of GGJ Engineers, came forward to present the project.

 

Mr. Veider said that this is the last component in the Master Plan for improving the school buildings in Rocky River.  The Board of Education has moved from the ESC building and the site will be prepared for the improvements.  The improvements include re-grading and re-landscaping of the hillside.  The parking lot for the ESC building will become the visitors’ parking for a new administration addition at the front of the building.  The new addition will be attached to the existing gym and will allow the district to create a secure passive entry that Goldwood does not presently have and which was done at both Kensington and the High School.  A visitor will travel down the hill from the parking lot through a new landscaped court, and enter the building, which will be locked once school starts.  They will be adding two additional parking spaces to the existing lot.

 

Mr. Veider said that the addition will be the new face of Goldwood School.  They are including a metal screen wall for signage, which will also hide the mechanical systems.  The height of the screen wall will be lower than the existing building.  They will be doing some interior renovations in the second grade wing, which include updating the classrooms, as well as replacing some of the existing windows.  Technology will also be updated.  Much of that work will be done during the summer when school is not in session. 

 

Mr. Long asked how much impact this project will have on the school operations.  Mr. Ted Blank of the Rocky River School District said that it should not have any operational impact.  Once school is in session, visitors may not enter the building except to go through the office, in order to further ensure the safety of the children during the school day.  Busses will enter and exit the same way they presently do.  Mr. Kevin Lauer, of PCS, the Construction Managers for the project, said that the parking lot in front will be used for staging during construction, so they will be separated from the rest of the school.  Regarding traffic moving in and out of the construction site, Mr. Blank said that there will be some construction traffic, but probably less than there was when the Board of Education was housed there.

 

Mr. Bishop asked what the net square footage will be.  Mr. Veider said that they are demolishing the existing building and are adding 2000 sq. ft.  Mr. Gustafson asked what the impact will be on the neighbors.  Mr. Veider said that the front of the addition faces retail space.  The location of the nearby residential areas was discussed.  Mr. Veider said that there is plenty of room between the portion of the school they are removing and the property line that abuts residential.

 

Ms. Brown asked how long demolition will take.  Mr. Lauer said that demolition will take approximately 1 week with the addition of a couple of weeks to haul everything away.  Mr. Gustafson asked what insulation or other types of issues are in the existing building that will require special handling.  Mr. Blank said that they had a much larger problem when they took down the middle school because it was located in the middle of a residential neighborhood and PCS managed that project well.  Mr. Lauer said that the building will be completely abated and watered down before demolition.

 

Ms. Brown said that she remembers that when the bond got passed, there was discussion of funds being used to expand to full day kindergarten.  She asked if there was any discussion about that and what they would do if that ever became mandated.  Mr. Veider pointed to a graphic on the plans that shows the available space for expansion of the school classrooms, located off of a corridor.

 

Mr. Bishop said that he would like to open the meeting for public comment.

 

Ms. Brown made a motion to open the public portion of the meeting.  Mr. Gustafson seconded.

 

4 Ayes – 0 Nays

Passed

 

Mr. Tim Bond, Vice President of the Board of Directors for Heritage Circle Condominiums, came forward and said he is here to see what impact the construction phases will have on the condos to the east, on Pease Dr.  He said there are several Condominium Associations on that street and they are located at the end where they get the runoff from the hill.   Mr. Long asked if garages are located on the portion of their property that directly abuts the Board of Education property.  Mr. Bond said that they are garages and that their property is against the ball field.  His concern is whether there will be dust and water from the project.  He said it looks like everything will be happening on the front of the building and more to the west of them, and there will be little impact on them.

 

Mr. Bishop made a motion to close the public hearing.  Mr. Long seconded.

 

4 Ayes – 0 Nays

Passed

 

Mr. Gustafson asked about the landscaping plans.  Mr. Veider said that the simple concept is to bring back the slope and keep ornamental grasses at the top of the hill.  Beyond that, he said that there will be landscaping along the walks from the visitors parking to the future playground and surrounding it.  In order to beautify the façade, they will be installing something tall against the blank masonry wall of the existing building,

 

Mr. Jurs said that because of the slope of the property, the existing ADA spaces will not work.  The new ADA parking location was discussed.  Mr. Bishop asked if this will be called out more specifically on the final plan.  Mr. Jurs discussed the landscaping, saying that it will be low maintenance, traditional “school” material and it will be more detailed for the final review.

 

Ms. Brown asked if they considered engaging the science teachers in the building to come up with a project that involves the children, such as climbing vines or a garden along that very blank wall.   Mr. Jurs said that he is donating time at the High School because they are trying to do just that and it will probably be the same kind of situation here.  He said that the problem with installing climbing vines is that they get very large at the bottom, making them very attractive to the kids for climbing.

 

Ms. Brown made a motion to grant preliminary approval of the addition for Rocky River Board of Education, Goldwood Primary School, 21600 Center Ridge Rd.   Mr. Bishop seconded.

 

4 Ayes – 0 Nays

Preliminarily Approved

 

 

 

The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

William Bishop, Vice Chairman                         Patricia Brown, Member