2017.04.18 Planning - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 Janice Gundlach From:Peter Beck <peter@peterbecklaw.com> Sent:Thursday, April 13, 2017 10:18 PM To:Janice Gundlach Subject:UTS SUP Request: Playground Location Janice, Thanks again for attending the UTS neighborhood meeting last Wednesday. I think it was very helpful to have you there. I’m writing to follow up with you about the location of the playground. We have looked closely at the alternatives that were suggested during the neighborhood meeting and, after much thought and consideration, have come to the conclusion that there is not a better location for the playground than that shown on the site plan. The proposed location to the southwest would require destroying a portion of the natural prairie, which may violate the terms of the donation agreement pursuant to which the prairie was established. This location would also be right next to the main drive into the Seminary and the bus drop off/pick up area, and would be slightly closer to the homes across Stinson than the proposed location is to the homes to the east. The proposed location to the west of the McMillan Building is a drainage area that slopes to a catch basin in the middle. This location would also be immediately adjacent to the bus loading zone and parking lot. The area to the east of the McMillan Building, inside the service drive, as shown on the site plan, appears to be the safest, most convenient and most practical location for the playground. It is approximately 190 feet from the nearest home to the east and is located as close to the center of the Seminary Campus as is possible. We do not believe that children playing 200 feet or more away will have any negative impacts on the homes to the east. As we mentioned in the narrative and at the neighborhood meeting, UTS has had discussions with potential school tenants (although no such discussions are on‐going now). During those discussions, UTS learned that the playground area would be used primarily during school hours, and primarily for play time after lunch. Students would eat lunch in the cafeteria space in the Library Building, then walk down the path to the playground before returning to class in the McMillan Building. Given the size of the cafeteria space, we believe that there will be multiple lunch hours and that the entire school will not eat lunch and then go to the playground together. We expect that will be the primary use of the playground. It is also likely that individual classes will take a break from class time now and then for some play time, but again, we do not expect that the entire school would, or could, be using the playground at the same time. One of the reasons for seeking a SUP for just a K‐8 school is that a K‐8 school is much less likely to have after‐school hours activities than a high school. The playground may be used after normal school hours on occasion, but we do not expect that to be a regular situation. For instance, the school may allow children to play in the playground while their parents attend parent‐teacher conferences in the evening. In general, we expect this playground will be used in the same manner as playgrounds and play areas at other K‐8 schools.