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Friday, November 21, 2014

Board approves exception for Caroline High School setback

When the renovations to Caroline High School are complete, the school building will sit a little closer to the road.
At its Nov. 13 meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved the School Board’s special exception application to allow the renovated CHS a 75-foot setback in an area with a rural preservation zoning that requires a 150-foot setback.
Despite the zoning, CHS has never had a 150-foot setback and is considered a “nonconforming structure” because the school, which opened its doors in 1976, was built before the adoption of the last zoning ordinance in 1989.
The current setback for CHS is 118 feet. The School Board’s request would increase the current encroachment by 43 feet.
Importantly, as Director of Planning and Community Development Mike Finchum pointed out, setbacks are measured from the front of the building to the right-of-way line, not to the edge of the pavement. The distance between the right-of-way line and the pavement is 68 feet; consequently, the renovated school will sit 143 feet from the edge of the nearest travel lane on Route 207.
Finchum reported that the Virginia Department of Transportation had reviewed the setback plans and had no objection to them.
After much discussion at its Aug. 20 meeting, the Planning Commission on Sept. 3 unanimously recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve the request, under the condition that an additional barrier be installed between the school and the road. Currently the only barrier is a row of large trees.
In a brief public hearing, School Board Chairman George Spaulding and Vice Chairman Nancy Carson urged the Board of Supervisors to approve the application.
“We would appreciate if we can go ahead and get this thing passed so we can get to moving on with our building,” Spaulding told the supervisors.
Because the site plan for CHS is currently in the review process, a denial of the application by the Board of Supervisors would have forced the School Board to redesign the entire renovation plan. Randy Jones, CEO of OWPR, the firm overseeing the improvements, estimated that a redesign would cost $1 million and add six months to the project timeline. Financed through the November 2013 bond referendum passed by more than 80 percent of Caroline voters, the CHS renovations were projected to cost $21 million.
The additions to the front of the building include a new secure front entrance and a new administrative area. Caroline building official Kevin Wightman stated that moving this area to either the north, south, or east side of the building would be impractical for reasons of either expense or functional flow.
“The design that they have submitted works with the existing condition at the school and expanding that and working within the dollars for the renovation,” he said.
Reedy Church Supervisor Reggie Underwood expressed some displeasure at the decision the Board faced.
“To bring this here before this Board in the 11th hour and say, ‘You make a decision without impacting this,’ I think is a disservice,” he said.
Nevertheless, Chairman Floyd Thomas stated, “We borrowed the money almost a year ago. … All I have to show for $25 million is two groundbreakings.”
Thomas expressed the opinion that the project could not be delayed any further.
A tentative timeline for the renovations on the CCPS website projected a completion date of Aug. 15, 2016, with the plans being advertised for bid in August 2014. Delays have dogged the planning process, however, pushing back the timeline for advertisement of the bids likely until this winter. The site plans for CHS are currently being reviewed by the Department of Environmental Quality, a process that can take up to nine weeks.
“We’ve already missed a perfect project on time and under budget,” Thomas said. “We’re obviously going to miss on-time. We have to do under budget because we don’t have any more money.”
The supervisors voted unanimously to approve the request. The Planning Commission will now be charged with approving the plans for the barriers.

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