Title/Name/Summary
Centennial School Driveway
History
QUICKFACTS
Project
Centennial School - Driveway, Site Plan
Petitioner
Dean Manasses
Purpose:
The petitioner is proposing to construct a new driveway that will serve as the exit for their existing parking lot. The driveway will extend from the southeast corner of the parking lot with a curb cut onto Haverhill Lane.
Requested Actions: Site Plan approval
Project Attributes
Address: 14101 Creek Crossing Lane
P.I.N.(s): 27-06-400-010 (Location of Proposed Work); 27-06-406-018 to -023
Size: 9.56 acres
Comprehensive Plan Planning District:
Orland Grove Planning District
Comprehensive Land Designation:
Community and Institutional
Existing Zoning: E-1 Estate Residential and R-3 Residential District*
Proposed Zoning: E-1 Estate Residential
*The six parcels on the west side of the site are zoned R-3. These parcels are owned and controlled by School District 135. These parcels were never consolidated with the main parcel (27-06-400-010-0000) however they function together as one site for Centennial School. Work is only proposed on parcel 27-06-400-010-0000.
Existing Land Use: School
Proposed Land Use: School
Surrounding Land Use / Zoning:
North: Single Family Residential / R-3 Residential District
South: Open Space / OL Open Lands District
East: Single Family Residential / R-3 Residential District
West: Single Family Residential / R-3 Residential District
Preliminary Engineering: Preliminary engineering approval is not required for this project.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION & CONTEXT
Centennial School is located in the northwest corner of the Village in Creekside Subdivision. The school provides elementary education for students in grades K-3. In a letter submitted by the school district, enrollment at the school in 2014-2015 is projected to be at capacity and will include early childhood students that are 3-4 years of age. Currently, there is only one access point for entry and exit into the school parking lot. This parking lot is also the location of drop off and pick up for students that do not take the bus. The school operates from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with drop off occurring from 7:45 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and pick up between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. The school district has indicated that there is significant congestion during these times due to the single access point that serves as both ingress and egress. To alleviate congestion during these times, the petitioner proposes to construct a new egress driveway that extends from the southeast corner of their existing parking lot east to a proposed curb-cut onto Haverhill Lane.
Typically, school districts are exempt from Village approvals. However, because they are requesting a curb-cut onto a public road the petitioner is going through site plan approval. If the proposed changes to the existing school or site were not impacting a public road then Village approvals would not be necessary.
In addition, according to Legistar file number, 1994-0205 the property for Centennial School was annexed into the Village in 1994. The school opened in 1991. This means the school was constructed outside of the Village’s jurisdiction. Any site characteristics that do not meet current Land Development Code requirements are considered legal non-conforming.
The recommendation motion includes the following conditions:
1) Replace the parkway tree removed for the construction of the driveway in the parkway north of the proposed driveway on the west side of Haverhill Lane. Any additional landscaping that is removed must be replaced on site.
2) Plant three evergreen trees east of the existing parking lot. Plant the trees between existing landscaping to better screen the parking lot.
3) Remove impervious surface onsite equivalent to the amount of impervious surface that is added for the construction of the new driveway.
4) Install a gate at the west end of the proposed exit driveway, nearest to the parking lot, so that it can only be accessed during designated drop off and pick up times.
5) Adjust the storm sewer manholes in the path of the proposed driveway to the appropriate elevation as needed.
6) Provide EJIW ADA warning plates instead of the proposed stamped tactile warning for the public sidewalk on Haverhill Lane.
7) Add a striped crosswalk at the Brigitte Terrace entrance to the parking lot.
Overall, the project conforms to the Village’s Comprehensive Plan, Land Development Codes and policies for this area.
SITE PLAN
Centennial School is located in residential neighborhood that is predominantly single family. The 53,720 square foot building is located on 9.56 acre site. The main entrance is adjacent to the bus loading area and faces northwest towards the intersection of Creek Crossing Drive and Brigitte Terrace. There is an existing parking lot on the northeast side of the site with playground areas directly south of the parking lot.
The only proposed changes to the existing site plan will be the addition of a new egress drive on the southeast corner of the parking lot that extends east to Haverhill Lane. The driveway will be 24 feet wide on the school district property and extend to 44.5 feet wide at the right-of-way. The driveway will add 1,500 square feet of impervious surface area to the site.
The petitioner proposes to remove sidewalk adjacent to the proposed drive and replace it with a stamped tactile warning at the crossing. The new exit drive will be marked with left and right turn only lanes, a striped crosswalk and stop bar. Stop signs will be placed on the north and south sides of the driveway. The driveway will also be marked with do not enter signage facing Haverhill Lane to restrict inbound traffic. The Village recommends that the petitioner add a striped crosswalk to the existing driveway on Brigitte Terrace. This improvement will add to the overall safety of the site, which is the ultimate goal of this petition.
The Village of Orland Park Public Works Department indicated that the petitioner should use EJIW ADA warning plates as opposed to the stamped tactile warning. In addition, there are storm sewer manholes located in the path of the driveway. There is one in the driveway and one inlet in the curb line. The petitioner shall ensure that the structures are adjusted to the proper elevation during construction of the proposed driveway.
MOBILITY
The site is surrounded by Brigitte Terrace to the north, Creek Crossing Drive to the west , Haverhill Lane to the east and open space to the south, all local streets.
Pedestrian and Bicycle
Sidewalks extend across the length of Centennial School’s northern (Brigitte Terrace), western (Creek Crossing Dr.), and eastern (Haverhill Lane) boundaries. The site also has an integrated pedestrian circulation network with sidewalk connections that lead to the entrances of the building, the bus loading area, the parent loading area, the playground, and the staff parking lot. Students from the surrounding residential area can access the site from multiple pedestrian connections
Vehicular/Traffic:
The site is primarily accessed from the parking lot located on the northeast side of the site. Currently, there is only one access point for entry and exit into the parking lot. The west side of the parking lot is also the location of drop off and pick up for students that do not take the bus. The single access point is a driveway that intersects with Brigitte Terrace. According to school policy the driveway is intended to be right turn in and right turn out only access but, the school district has had difficulty enforcing this restriction. For this reason this driveway functions as a full access driveway.
The school bus loading area is located on the northwest corner of the site. The loading area is a U-shaped driveway that extends from Creek Crossing Drive to Brigitte Terrace. According to the petitioner 16 buses access the site during designated drop off and pick up times. The buses enter the loading area at Creek Crossing Drive and exit onto Brigitte Terrace.
EXISTING
Parking/Loading:
Parking Required - 36 spaces
Existing Provided - 66 spaces (Legal Non-conforming, see project description and context for further explanation)
The majority of the traffic generated at the site occurs during designated drop-off and pick-up times. Drop off takes place between 7:45 a.m. and 8:00 a. m. and pick up takes place from 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. The petitioner has indicated that there is significant congestion at the current access point onto Brigitte Terrace. Their intention is to provide an additional exit only driveway to reduce the amount of traffic at the current access point and improve traffic flow through the site.
The petitioner consulted with a traffic engineer to determine the feasibility of the new exit only driveway. The review of the existing traffic circulation on site and the potential new exit driveway was completed by Eriksson Engineering Associates, LTD. A summary of the consultant’s findings is below.
Parents accessing the parking lot for student loading enter by making a left or right from Brigitte Terrace, and enter the student loading area on the west side of the parking lot. They continue south along the drive aisle, drop off or pick up students and then turn back north and exit onto Brigitte Terrace. The drive aisles entering and exiting the parking lot are separated by an existing paved island.
Vehicles turning right into and left out of the parking lot are backing up onto Brigitte Terrace. This causes problems for vehicles exiting the parking lot, through traffic traveling east and westbound on Brigitte Terrace, and pedestrians crossing the existing access drive.
One possible solution to alleviate some of the congestion was to use barricades in what would be the median of Brigitte Terrace to prevent left turns into the parking lot. However, the same barricades that will prevent left turns will also block access to Brigitte Terrace from the residential driveways located on the north side of the street.
The review also mentions widening the existing driveway or adding an additional driveway on the north end of the parking lot. Widening the driveway does not reduce any of the current conflicting traffic movements and would create a wider distance for pedestrians to cross. It was also determined that an additional driveway on the north end of the parking lot would be located too close to the intersection at Brigitte Terrace and Haverhill Lane.
The proposed solution is to maintain the existing driveway at Brigitte Terrace as an entrance only access point, and install a new exit only driveway that opens onto Haverhill Lane. The new exit drive will only be open during drop off and pick up times. The petitioner has indicated that they will install a gate to ensure that access is restricted during other times of the day. The gate shall be installed at the west side of the proposed driveway, nearest to the parking lot, to avoid visual clutter at the intersection.
The review indicates that with a typical T-intersection or driveway there are nine conflict points. A conflict point is the point where the paths of two through or turning vehicles diverge, merge or cross. Anytime a vehicle changes from their existing path of travel vehicles travelling in the same direction must adjust and a potential conflict is created. Similarly, any vehicle that crosses the path of another vehicle or merges with another user a potential conflict is created.
The nine potential conflicts include traffic movements from vehicles entering and exiting the site conflicting with through traffic on Brigitte Terrace, or conflicting with other vehicles entering and exiting the site. There are two additional pedestrian conflicts, with pedestrians crossing vehicles entering and exiting the driveway. By restricting access to inbound only traffic at the Brigitte Terrace all potential conflicts with exiting vehicles are eliminated. This reduces the total number of potential conflicts at this entrance from nine to four. Similarly, by restricting access to outbound only traffic at the proposed Haverhill Lane exit potential conflicts with traffic entering at this location are eliminated and the total number of traffic conflicts at the new driveway is four.
Pedestrian conflicts are reduced to one at each location. Although the amount of conflicts remains the same for pedestrians, they only have to cross traffic from a single direction at each location.
Traffic conflicts cannot be completely eliminated but they can be better managed. The goal of the new exit only driveway is to disperse traffic so that all of the conflicting traffic movements are not concentrated at one access point. Inbound and outbound traffic is being separated to different areas of the site in an effort improve traffic flow.
The petitioner intends to construct the new driveway onto Haverhill lane because of the reduced number of traffic conflicts, the increased pedestrian safety and the potential improvement to traffic flow.
LANDSCAPING/TREE MITIGATION
The petitioner proposes to relocate an existing parkway tree in order to construct the proposed driveway. The parkway tree will be relocated north of the proposed drive on the east side of Haverhill Lane. In addition the petitioner is proposing to add three additional evergreen trees in the landscaped area directly east of the parking lot. These evergreen trees are intended to better screen the existing parking lot from the residential homes across Haverhill Lane.
The petitioner proposes to remove existing impervious surface area equivalent to the amount of impervious surface that is being added by the new driveway. The new driveway will add 1,500 square feet of paved surface. The petitioner proposes to remove existing impervious surface area on the east side of the existing paved playground area. Although, the school district is not subject to the lot coverage requirements of the Land Development Code, this ensures that the existing lot coverage is maintained.
DETAILED PLANNING DISCUSSION
Land Use/Compatibility
The proposed land use is not being changed. As stated earlier in the report, the Village typically has limited control over changes made on school district property. The purpose of the approval is to determine if the recommended curb cut onto a public road is appropriate. No other changes are being proposed and any other changes to the building or site would not be subject to Village review and approval.
This is now before Plan Commission for consideration.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to accept as findings of fact of this Plan Commission the findings of fact set forth in this staff report, dated July 8, 2014
And
I move to recommend to the Village Board approval of the preliminary site plan titled, "Orland Park School District 135 Centennial School District Driveway Addition" dated, 5/12/2014, prepared by Eriksson Engineering Associates LTD. , Sheet No. EX-1, EX-2 and EX-4, subject to the following conditions:
1) Replace the parkway tree removed for the construction of the driveway in the parkway north of the proposed driveway on the west side of Haverhill Lane. Any additional landscaping that is removed must be replaced on site.
2) Plant three evergreen trees east of the existing parking lot. Plant the trees between existing landscaping to better screen the parking lot.
3) Remove impervious surface onsite equivalent to the amount of impervious surface that is added for the construction of the new driveway.
4) Install a gate at the the mouth of the proposed exit driveway so that it can only be accessed during designated drop off and pick up times.
5) Adjust the storm sewer manholes in the path of the proposed driveway to the appropriate elevation as needed.
6) Provide EJIW ADA warning plates instead of the proposed stamped tactile warning for the public sidewalk on Haverhill Lane.
7) Add a striped crosswalk at the Brigitte Terrace entrance to the parking lot.
All changes must be made prior to the Board meeting.
DZIERWA: Second.