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Home My WebLink About2000-04-03 NAC Planning ReportNORTHWEST ASSOCIATtD CONSULTANTS I\IrA COMMUNITY PLANNING - DESIGN - MARKET RESEARCH PLANNING REPORT TO: Tom Melena FROM: Scott Richards DATE: April 3, 2000 RE: Oak Park Heights — Stillwater High School: Amended Ropes Course Conditional Use Permit FILE NO: 798.02 — 00.04 BACKGROUND Independent School District 834 (ISD 834) has requested an amendment to the conditional use permit (CUP) for the High School to allow for extended hours of operation for the ropes course. In addition, the City will conduct the required annual review of the ropes course as prescribed by the conditions for approval. The City approved the original High School CUP in December of 1991. The ropes course was allowed through an amended CUP that was approved in September of 1999. The High School is zoned 0, Open Space District. The ropes course is considered to be a recreational equipment accessory use to the High School. Public school facilities are a conditional use within this district. The current request would be processed as an amendment to the original CUP of 1991 and amended CUP of 1999. Attached for reference: Exhibit A: Exhibit B: Exhibit 0: Exhibit D: Letter from Superintendent Kathleen Macy, ISD 834, January 27, 2000 Ropes Course CUP, September 1999 Letter from Daniel Parker, ISD 834, March 22, 2000 Letter from Superintendent Kathleen Macy, ISD 834, March 22, 2000 5775 WAYZATA BOULEVARD, SUITE 555 ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA 554 1 6 PHONE 61 2-595-9636 FAX 61 2-595-9837 E-MAIL NAC@WINTERNET.COM ISSUES ANALYSIS Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan specifies the use of this site for school facilities. The ropes course is considered as an accessory recreational use to the High School. Zoning. The High School is zoned as 0, Open Space, which allows for education and recreational use. Any changes to the terms of the conditions of an adopted CUP require an amendment processed in the same way as the original CUP. As such, a public hearing and notification requirements have been followed for this request. Annual Review. The ropes course amended CUP specified the requirement of an annual review to assure compliance and address any neighborhood issues with the recreational and training facility. The Superintendent acknowledged in the letter that they had complied with all the conditions of the CUP, but had not been able to schedule any training sessions related to rescue activities due to the limiting hours specified for operation. The Planning Commission and City Council should review the original conditions of approval with School District personnel present at the meetings and discuss the compliance issues. The Superintendent has also asked for further discussion on condition d., which requires approval of an amended CUP for any changes to the ropes course. The Planning Commission could recommend and the City Council adopt amendments to the CUP conditions based upon findings of the annual review. Hours of Operation. The CUP specifies that the hours of operation "shall be established as occurring from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM, or dusk, whichever occurs earlier, Monday through Friday, with no use allowed on weekends or legal holidays ". The Superintendent has indicated that they would prefer that the ropes course be available for use under the same policies and guidelines that govern all of their facilities. In terms of the ropes course, the hours of use would be expanded with safety of participants as the benchmark of when the course would be in use. The City w i l l likely not agree to such an open ended allowance for ropes course hours but it is acknowledged that the current conditions may be too restricting. The current restrictions do not allow for use on Summer nights or on weekends. As a reasonable compromise to allow for extended use but recognizing the impact to neighboring residents, staff would suggest that the hours be extended to 9:30 PM or dusk, whichever occurs earlier and allow for Saturday use from 8 :00 AM to 6:00 PM. The restriction on Sundays and legal holidays would remain. The School District is not requesting that the ropes course be lit or any changes occur to the current operation of the recreational facility. 2 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION City staff recommends that an amendment be made to the High School CUP to allow for extended hours of operations for the ropes course facility. Additionally, staff recommends that the Planning Commission and City Council conduct the annual review of the CUP conditions with High School representatives. Further consideration of condition d. related to the requirement for CUP approval of changes to the ropes course has been requested by the School District. The Planning Commission and City Council of Oak Park Heights recommend approval of the amended CUP to the Stillwater High School conditional use permit to allow for changes to the conditions relating to the accessory ropes course, subject to the following: 1. The hours of operation of the ropes course shall be amended as follows: The hours of operation of the ropes course shall be established as occurring from 8:00 AM until 9:30 PM or dusk, whichever occurs earlier, Monday through Friday, and allow for Saturday use from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM with no use allowed on Sundays or legal holidays. 2. Any amendments to the CUP conditions based upon the annual review as approved by the City Council. pc: Kris Danielson Mark Vierl i ng Kathleen Macy, ISD 834 3 Mr. Tom Melena, City Administrator City of Oak Park Heights 14168 57` Street North P.O. Box 2007 Oak Park Heights, MN 55082 RE: Goverance of the use of the ropes course be provided by the same District 834 Community Education and general education policies and use guidelines that prescribe the use of all of our facilities, fields, apparatus etc. Dear Mr. Melena, STILLWATER AREA SCHOOLS. FEB42DJ Efficti e Learning Through Excellence in Educatio \!� Ka hleen Macy, Superintendent During the past year, I have met with you and members of our respective staff each month to discuss areas of mutual concerns and to develop more active communication between our organizations. The goals of our meetings are to serve our communities better and to re-establish strong, positive relationships p between our organizations. The meetings have been helpful to us as a way to resolve problems and chart the future. lam grateful for your commitment to this work. As a result of our ongoing conversations and as part of our annual review, I report that we have met the conditions of the permit awarded by the City of Oak Park Heights on April 29, 1999 for the use of the ropes course. Any issues, and there have been very few, that have arisen have been discussed and resolved. The only issue unable to be resolved is the requirement to train City police and fire officials for potential rescue activities on the course. At this time, our prescribed hours of operation do not allow us to schedule the training at a time that the firefighters can participate. As per our conversation and at your directive, 1 am writing to request that we be able to use the ropes course on the grounds of Stillwater Area High School under the same District 834 policies and guidelines that govern all of our facilities. What this means in this case is that: O Hours of use would be expanded with safety of participants as the benchmark of when the course would be in use. O Availability of natural daylight and high standards of safety and supervision would prescribe the hours of use. The current guidelines limit the use of the course to 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or dusk, whichever occurs earlier. This restriction prohibits some of our students and parents from participation, one of the federal requirements of the grant that supported the development of this (20UFSe. • This is not a request for lighting. .vouosKV,•�v.�ess�a:rasvo'mrr.. ti a.+cdawerna-,�1:wm • f.2ai�aa• 1875 South Greeley Street Stillwater Minnesota 55082 Phone: 651 - 351 -8340 Fax: (551-351-8380 V -TDD: 651.351 -8338 January 27, 2000 EXHIBIT A r. An Equal opportunity E ? +or Altan Leke!and Elementary • Andersen Elementary • Area Learning Center Early Childhood Family Center • Lake Elmo Elementary Lily Lake Elementary • Marine Elementary • Oak Park Elementary • O: k -Land Junior High • Rutherford Elementary • Stonehridge Elernentt ry Stillwater Area High School a Stillwater Junior High • Valley Crossing Community School • Withrow Elementary Mr. Tom Melena, City Administrator January, City Administrator January 27, 2000 Page two Independent of this request, I ask that the following be considered by the City as an item of future discussion. d. Any changes to the ropes course, including structures, fencing, access or security measures, shall require approval of an amended conditional use permit by the City Council unless the City Council amends the conditional use permit to exclude recreational structures from its application. Conditional Use Permit, April 1999 Thank you again for your commitment to our shared responsibility of service to the community. Nook forward to the action of the City Council on this request. s inc ely Ka hleen P. Macy Su•erintendent of Sch KPM:dkh c: Board of Education Ms. Teri Lewis, SAHS Ms. Mary Pat Cumming Juhl, Assistant Principal SAHS Mr. Paul Westmoreland, Community Education Dr. Mary Jo Weingarten, Deputy Superintendent Owner File No.: Address: Present Zoning District General Description: CITY OF OA.< PARK HEIGHTS FIRST AMENDMENT TO CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS FOR STILLWATER AREA HIGH SCHOOL/ INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 834 Legal Description: (Washington count Geo. Code ode } See Exhibit "A'f attached hereto Stillwater Area Hiah School/ Independent School District No. 834 1875 South Greeley Street St±llwater Minnesota 55082 11 0 11 Date Issued: Permitted uses set forth in Ordinance 400 Seotien, 401.02 et secs i . CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR: All uses shall be subject to the following conditions and /O�. restrictions imposed by the City Council of t He ight s . he City of Oak Par: 1. Amendment to that certain Conditional ndeenctent School D�strlct No Use Permit issued t �, ro�..� �- � n 8 34 and_,da�.ed December � 0 1991, which incorporated .T_ �. �� -�.d � __rein by reference and reaf fzrme din whole excent to the eat en ;.hat it is modi7cied within this amendment. T T . ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS AND PROVISIONS. The following additional restrictions and �- P ovi s ions being part of the First Amendment to Conditional Use Permit tO ' be issued herein shall be: Ar{ said Conditional , tional Use Permit dated December 10 1991 for try St i. Area Hiah School /Independent School t arid. al? ow the ropes course as �is� -�`ict #834 to perms.. an accessory use subject to the followinc. conditions: EXHIBIT B a. That access to the ropes course be maintained year round for emergency vehicles; b. Gate to the ropes course shall be closed and locked at all times when the facility is not in use; 0. Installation of any future lighting at the ropes course shall require approval of an amended conditional use permit by the City Council; d. Any changes to the ropes course, including structures, fencing, access or security measures, shall require approval of an amended conditional use permit by the City Council unless the City Council amends the conditional use permit to exclude recreational structures from its application; e. The hours of operation of the ropes course shall be established as occurring from 8 :00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. or dusk whichever occurs earlier, Monday through Friday, with no use allowed on weekends cr legal holidays; f. The final landscaping plan to be implemented on the ropes course site shall be subject to the review and approval of the City Arborist; g. School District personnel shall work with City Police and fire officials in training for potential rescue activities for the ropes course. All further use of the ropes course shall recruire written approvals from the Police and Fire Chiefs tha adequate access, safety and rescue plans are in place for the ropes course. h. Annual review should be imposed as a condition of this conditional use permit to assure compliance and provide a mechanism to deal with any issues that may arise affecting the use of the ropes course vis a vis the neighboring properties in the future. III. REVIEW Pursuant to Order of the City Council of the City of oak Park Heights, a periodic review of this First Amendment to Conditional Use Permit is imposed as a condition of its grant. This Conditional Use Permit shall be reviewed annually at the Direction of the City Clerk, which shall notify the permit holder of the date of the annual review at least ten (10) days prior to the review hearing. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have set forth their hands and seals. Date: CITY-OF OAK PARK HFGHTS �l �I (" David Scha Date: — 1 / 2 - 99 Date: 9 -17 -99 Date: 9- 17-99 J Thomas Ci B Thomas s By Appl A A Melena • mist _ for cant /Permit Ho dpr J Applicant Permit Holder March 22, 2000 Ms. Kris Danielson Community Development Director City of oak Park Heights P. 0. Box 2007 Oak Park Heights, MN 55082 Re: Amended Conditional Use Permit — Hours of Operation, Ropes Course Dear Kris: Please include this memo as backup information to the application to amend the Stillwater Area High School Conditional Use Permit. The request is to amend the hours of operation to be consistent with other fields and grounds owned by the District. The current district procedure is as follows: ® The use of elementary school grounds is scheduled by Community Education after 2:30 p.m. on school days. All hours' on non - school days, weekend and holidays are also scheduled through Community Education. O The use of secondary school grounds is scheduled by Community Education after 5:30 p.m. on school days. All hours' of non- school days, weekends and holidays are also scheduled through Community Education. The hours are dawn to dusk. • The district has three fields that are lit: Miller Stadium, the old Athletic Field and the Jaycee Field. The Stillwater Area High School Athletic Department and Community Education schedule these. The Jaycee Field has a "Lights Out" time of 10:00 p.m. Miller Stadium and the old Athletic field has lights out after the event. Thank you for spending time with me on Monday. Please call if you have questions. Sincerely, STILLWATER AREA SCHOOLS Effective Learning Through Excellence in Education Daniel C. Parker Director of Finance & Operations cc: Supt. Kathleen Macy 8 75 South Greeley Street illwater innesota 5082 Phone: 651- 351 -8340 Fax: 651-351-8380 V -TDD: 651-351-8338 EXHIBIT C An Equal Opportunity Employer Afton- Lakeland Elementary • Andersen Elementary • Area Learning Center • Early Childhood Family Center • Lake Elmo Elementary Lily Lake Elementary • Marine Elementary • Oak Park Elementary • Oak -Land Junior High • Rutherford Elementary • Stonebridge Elementary Stillwater Area High School • StillwaterJunior High • Valley Crossing Community School • Withrow Elementary STILLWATER AREA SCHOOLS Effective Learning Through Excellence in Education Kathleen Macy, Superintendent To: oak Park Heights Staff From: Kathleen Macy, Superintendent of School RE: Amendment to the Conditional Use Permit for ropes course I am in receipt of the memo from Mr. Scott Richards to Ms. Kris Danielson regarding the staff recommendation related to the amendment to the conditional use permit requested by District 834. I request further review of the recommendations made by Mr. Richards and request the consideration of the following: 1. The policy of the District related to use of fields /facilities is as follows: KPM :dkh Enclosures We respectfully request: The hours of operation of the ropes course be established as 8:00AM until 9:30 p.m. or dusk, whichever comes first, on any day. Mary Cecconi, Board Chair Dan Parker, Director of Finance and Operations 1875 South Greeley Street Stillwater Minnesota 55082 Phone: 651- 351 -8340 Fax: 651-351-8380 V -TDD: 651 - 351 -8338 March 22, 2000 O At elementary schools, Community Education schedules facilities and fields after 2:30 p.m. O At secondary schools, Community Education schedules facilities and fields after 5:30 p.m.. • Our facilities are available for a fee and with certain requirements depending on the facility through Community Education on weekends and holidays. O Outdoor fields are scheduled for use until dusk where lights are not present. • on fields where there are lights, the fields are used: .. until 10:00 p.m. at J.C. Park; lights are turned off at the end of the event scheduled at Miller Stadium. These requirements already govern the fields located at SAHS. These requirements, in addition to the specific restrictions we have regarding the use of the ropes course size of the groups, the training of the staff required before participation, and the availability of trained/certified staff, limit the time that this course will be used. 2. District 834 is very mindful that communities like Oak Park Heights have supported the building of the facilities both educational and recreational at schools. We are also aware that facilities must be maintained and made available to our communities. The ropes course is a unique and valuable resource for our students, their parents and our community. As I have stated, we have many requirements and restrictions that limit the use of the ropes course. We respectfully request that you provide the ability to have access to this site in a way that meets but does not exceed the rules that already govern other facilities that are on the SAHS site and used by Oak Park Heights and other communities. EXHIBIT D An Equal Opportunity Employer Afton - Lakeland Elementary • Andersen Elementary • Area Learning Center • Early Childhood Family Center • Lake Elmo Elementary Lily Lake Elementary • Marine Elementary • Oak Park Elementary • Oak -Land Junior High • Rutherford Elementary • Stonebridge Elementary Stillwater Area High School • Stillwater Junior High • Valley Crossing Community School • Withrow Elementary