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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJ_Modification_Parking_Spaces_202103_v1.pdfRENTON SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 403 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #16 MODIFICATION REQUEST (PARKING SPACES) MARCH 2021 Modification Request (Parking Spaces) – Elementary School #16 Page 1 BRENT PLANNING SOLUTIONS, LLC FOR RENTON SCHOOL DIST. NO.2 (3-2021) Justification for Modification Request (Parking Spaces) Per RMC 4.4.080.E.10.d, the number of required parking spaces for an Elementary School is as follows: A minimum and maximum of 1 per employee. In addition, if buses for the transportation of students are kept at the school, 1 off-street parking space shall be provided for each bus of a size sufficient to park each bus. Following the RMC 4.4.080.E.10.c guidelines for modification, Renton School District is requesting: i. A twenty five percent (25%) reduction or increase from the minimum or maximum number of parking spaces may be granted for nonresidential uses through site plan review if the applicant can justify the modification to the satisfaction of the Administrator. Justification might include, but is not limited to, quantitative information such as sales receipts, documentation of customer frequency, and parking standards of nearby cities. [emphasis added] ii. In order for the reduction or increase to occur the Administrator must find that satisfactory evidence has been provided by the applicant. Modifications beyond twenty five percent (25%) may be granted per the criteria and process of RMC 4-9-250D2. [emphasis added] The Renton School District modification request does exceed the 25% so the following addresses RMC 4-9-250D2. Project Parking Modification Overview The proposed Renton Elementary School #16 intends to support 650 students, 60 staff members, and use 8 school buses to serve the site. The project proposes to include bus stalls sufficient to house all 8 buses, but requests a modification to increase the number of standard parking stalls from 60 to 82 stalls, a 37% increase. Based on other jurisdictions, this request is consistent with the need for onsite parking for an elementary school. In all cases, the proposed design of 82 stalls either meets their standard or is below their minimum stall count. This request also addresses the criteria for approval of the modification request. Parking Standards of Nearby Cities • City of Kent: 1 per 50 students plus 1 per staff member (KCC 15.05.040) = 73 stalls minimum (no maximum) • City of SeaTac: 1 per 50 students plus 1 per staff member (SMC 15.445.120) = 73 stalls minimum (no maximum) • City of Tukwila: 1.5 for each staff member (TMC 18.56.050) = 90 stalls minimum (no maximum) • King County: 1 per classroom plus 1 per 50 students (KCC 21A.18.030) = 51 stalls minimum (no maximum) Modification Request (Parking Spaces) – Elementary School #16 Page 2 BRENT PLANNING SOLUTIONS, LLC FOR RENTON SCHOOL DIST. NO.2 (3-2021) • City of Newcastle: 1 per classroom plus 1 per 50 students (NMC 18.18.030.F) = 51 stalls minimum, 102 maximum RMC 4.9.250.D.2. Decision Criteria Modification Criteria Narrative The following narrative justifies how the modification request complies with each of the City of Renton’s Modification Criteria: a) The proposed modification substantially implements the policy direction of the policies and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Element and the Community Design Element and the proposed modification is the minimum adjustment necessary to implement these policies and objectives. The proposed new elementary school includes onsite parking for a total of 82 automobiles (79 in the main staff/visitor lot and 3 in the bus load/unload area). The school-bus load/unload area has room for 8 full-size (typically 40 feet long) school-buses and 2 special education (SPED) buses (typically 25 feet long); current planning indicates the school would be served by 8 or fewer buses. During evening and/or weekend events, the school-bus load area could be used for automobile parking, which is estimated to accommodate about 20 vehicles. The design team considered the layout of parking in the overall design of the school, and the internal queuing and flow of traffic on the school campus. City of Renton Municipal Code section 4-4-080.F.10.d outlines the parking requirements for a variety of land uses. For elementary schools, the City requires a minimum and maximum of 1 parking space per employee. The proposed school is expected to have 60 employees when enrolled at its planned capacity of 650 students. Based on these values, the City would require a minimum and maximum of 60 parking spaces. The proposed parking supply would exceed City code allowance. As part of the site review and Conditional Use process, a Transportation Technical Report was prepared consistent with City requirements. A section of the report addresses parking needs during school hours and evening events. This information has been included in this modification request. In addition to the onsite considerations, the intent was to provide enough parking onsite to minimize impacts to the surrounding residential neighborhood, especially during evening peak events. This approach is consistent with the land use and design policies in the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Land use policies encourage providing school facilities that address the district -wide school population and location of these facilities in areas that are well serviced by urban infrastructure. Also, by providing the needed onsite parking the proposal addresses other transportation and capital facilities policies, which are detailed as follows: Transportation Element Policy T-41: Plan for land use densities and mixed-use development patterns that encourage walking, biking, and transit use in designated areas. Policy T-44: Ensure adequate transportation facilities are in place at the time of development approval or that an adopted strategy is in place to provide adequate facilities within six years. Policy T-45: Ensure that new development contributes its fair share of the cost of transportation facilities, programs and services needed to mitigate growth related transportation impacts. Modification Request (Parking Spaces) – Elementary School #16 Page 3 BRENT PLANNING SOLUTIONS, LLC FOR RENTON SCHOOL DIST. NO.2 (3-2021) The site design includes adequate provisions for staff/visitor parking, ten bike parking spaces and school-bus parking. The required transportation mitigation fees, frontage improvements and off-site improvements would be provided as required by the City. Capital Facilities Element Policy CF-5: Individually adopt by reference the most current Capital Facilities Plans for the Kent School District #415, the Issaquah School District #411, and the Renton School District #403, and adopt an implementing ordinance establishing a school impact fees consistent with each District’s adopted Capital Facilities Plan, if the Plan demonstrates that the facilities are needed to accommodate projected growth. The 2020 Capital Facilities Plan for the Renton School District has been adopted by the City and this project is consistent with that plan. The school site design has provided for the safe movement of vehicles to the site and for queuing onsite. Vehicular safety during construction was also considered during the planning. Parking layouts are designed to allow for parent queuing during drop-off and pick-up. Bus parking has been provided along the bus drop-off located off of Duvall Ave NE. Other transportation mitigation includes: • The City collects transportation impact fees and has outlined fee rates for a variety of uses. The transportation impact fee for the elementary school project is calculated to be $356,377. • The project would dedicate right-of-way along the street frontages of Duvall Ave NE and Chelan Ave NE. The dedication along Duvall Ave NE would be about 887 linear feet along the length of the property line and could vary between 7.5 and 12 feet in width. The total area of the dedication could range from about 8,220 SF (if the dedication varies between 7.5 and 12 feet) and about 10,646 SF (if a straight-line dedication is required). The six-inch dedication along Chelan Ave NE would be about 272 linear feet long, with a total area of about 136 SF. • Frontage improvements would be made along Duvall Ave NE and Chelan Ave NE. The District would coordinate with the City to integrate the dedication areas and frontage improvements with the City’s planned roadway improvement in that segment. • To mitigate school-related traffic impacts, the project would install a traffic signal (replacing the existing HAWK beacon signal) at the NE 10th Street/Duvall Ave NE intersection. Installation of the new traffic signal would include pedestrian actuated signals and crosswalks on all four legs. In addition to these measures the District would communicate with staff, students and the community information on proper access to the school and parking for school and event days. b) The proposed modification will meet the objectives and safety, function, appearance, environmental protection and maintainability intended by the Code requirements, based upon sound engineering judgment. School-day parking at elementary schools is primarily driven by staffing levels and family-volunteer activity. Parking demand rates for elementary schools based on staffing levels have been developed using counts conducted at several elementary schools throughout the Puget Sound Region for school modernization, replacement, and new school projects; these data reflect peak school-day parking demand rates that range from 1.06 to 1.23 vehicles per employee. ITE’s Parking Generation22 includes an average rate of 0.95-vehicles-per-employee, which is at the lower end of observations by the District’s traffic consultant (Heffron Transportation). To reflect worst-case conditions, the Modification Request (Parking Spaces) – Elementary School #16 Page 4 BRENT PLANNING SOLUTIONS, LLC FOR RENTON SCHOOL DIST. NO.2 (3-2021) highest observed midday parking demand rate of 1.23 vehicles per employee was applied to this proposal. This rate accounts for employees and family volunteers or other visitors who may be onsite midday. The District estimates that the new Elementary #16 could have up to 60 employees with the school at full capacity. Using the parking rate described above, the new school is projected to have a midday peak parking demand of about 74 vehicles, which is likely to occur during late morning when all teachers, administrative staff, kitchen staff, and volunteers are typically onsite. Afternoon demand is often somewhat lower, as part-time and food-service staff often leave after lunch. The proposed onsite parking supply of 82 spaces is expected to accommodate typical midday peak parking demand. For comparison, demand count performed using an aerial image of Sartori Elementary School from May 9, 2019 (with enrollment of 532 students and 65 employees at the time) found a total of 71 vehicles parked onsite and on-street adjacent to the school. Elementary School #16 would have common spaces and a gymnasium that could be used for events at the school. The school is expected to host evening events periodically throughout the school year that could use these spaces. The types of events typically held at schools include the following. • Large School Events – Typically occur about once per month or once every other month during the school year (4 to 8 per year). The largest events occur two or three times per year and usually include: Back to School Night; Curriculum Night/Open House, and a concert or talent show. Some of the larger events have staggered arrivals and not all attendees are onsite at once, while others have fixed start and end times and all attendees are onsite simultaneously. • PTA (or other) Meetings – There are commonly five or six smaller PTA events that occur each year. Typically, attendance ranges from about 30 to 100 people. • Community Use – The site may be scheduled for use by community groups (e.g. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies, etc.) or recreational sports on the playfield. Community-use events usually have smaller attendance levels of 10 to 50 people, but may occur more frequently. For evening events, the onsite parking supply of 82 spaces would be available. Room for another 12 parked vehicles would exist in the family-vehicle load/unload zone and 20 vehicles in the school- bus load/unload area, bringing the onsite total to 114 spaces for evening or weekend events. For larger evening events, there are typically between 3.0 and 3.5 persons attending for each parked vehicle. This rate accounts for higher levels of carpooling (families and students in a single vehicle) as well as drop-off activity that does not generate parked vehicles. At these rates, the onsite parking supply could accommodate events with attendance of between 340 and 400 persons without requiring use of nearby on-street parking. This parking analysis addresses the need and intent of the parking code requirement to provide onsite parking for the school use. The parking has been designed to provide easy access to buildings for staff and visitors, and maximize the internal flow during school drop-off and pick-up timeframes. c) The proposed modification will not be injurious to other property(ies) in the vicinity.[KP1] c) The proposed modification will not be create substantial adverse impacts to other property(ies) in the vicinity. The challenge is to provide the needed parking while also encouraging carpooling and other ways of reducing vehicle trips to the site. All parking would occur within the school property boundaries, Modification Request (Parking Spaces) – Elementary School #16 Page 5 BRENT PLANNING SOLUTIONS, LLC FOR RENTON SCHOOL DIST. NO.2 (3-2021) and would not negatively impact the surrounding residential properties. The additional parking provided onsite helps eliminate the need for parking off-site and in the adjacent neighborhoods. There are Metro Transit bus stops located within 0.4-mile of the site served by two Metro routes with connections to transit centers. As a result, it is possible that some school employees or visitors could use transit to access the site. However, the number of public transit trips is likely to be relatively small. School-bus transportation would be provided to students who qualify. The project is not expected to result in adverse impacts to transit. The project would construct frontage improvements along Duvall Ave NE and Chelan Ave NE with curbs and sidewalks. The improvements on Duvall Ave NE (either constructed by the City as part of its project or by the District as frontage improvements) would include a bicycle lane. The District would coordinate with the City to integrate the frontage improvements along Du vall Ave NE with the City’s planned roadway improvement in that segment. Pedestrian walkways would be provided throughout site connecting buildings to parking lots, vehicular load/unload zones, and play areas. Signalization of the NE 10th St/Duvall Ave NE intersection, would include pedestrian-actuated signals and crosswalks on all four legs. These improvements are expected to improve pedestrian access for the project site as well as for the nearby Hazen High School. The project is not expected to result in adverse impacts to non-motorized facilities. d) The proposed modification conforms to the intent and purpose of the Code. The intent and purpose of the code is to address the parking needs of a use. This has been addressed in the Transportation Technical Report, which outlines the need for the additional parking for school and evening use. e) The proposed modification can be shown to be justified and required for the use and situation intended. The information provided in the Transportation Technical Report and outlined in this modification request justify the need for the modification to allow additional onsite parking. The report illustrates the need to exceed the code allowed parking for staff and visitors during the school day as well as addressing the need for additional parking stalls during evening events. This reduces the need for on-street parking during these events, thereby avoiding impacts to the adjacent neighborhood. f) The proposed modification will not create substantial adverse impacts to other property(ies) in the vicinity.[KP2] The challenge is to provide the needed parking while also encouraging carpooling and other ways of reducing vehicle trips to the site. All parking would occur within the school property boundaries, and would not negatively impact the surrounding residential properties. The additional parking provided onsite helps eliminate the need for parking off-site and in the adjacent neighborhoods. There are Metro Transit bus stops located within 0.4-mile of the site served by two Metro routes with connections to transit centers. As a result, it is possible that some school employees or visitors could use transit to access the site. However, the number of public transit trips is likely to be relatively small. School-bus transportation would be provided to students who qualify. The project is not expected to result in adverse impacts to transit. The project would construct frontage improvements along Duvall Ave NE and Chelan Ave NE with curbs and sidewalks. The improvements on Duvall Ave NE (either constructed by the City as part of its project or by the District as frontage improvements) would include a bicycle lane. The District Modification Request (Parking Spaces) – Elementary School #16 Page 6 BRENT PLANNING SOLUTIONS, LLC FOR RENTON SCHOOL DIST. NO.2 (3-2021) would coordinate with the City to integrate the frontage improvements along Duvall Ave NE with the City’s planned roadway improvement in that segment. Pedestrian walkways would be provided throughout site connecting buildings to parking lots, vehicular load/unload zones, and play areas. Signalization of the NE 10th St/Duvall Ave NE intersection, would include pedestrian-actuated signals and crosswalks on all four legs. These improvements are expected to improve pedestrian access for the project site as well as for the nearby Hazen High School. The project is not expected to result in adverse impacts to non-motorized facilities.