Christian school expansion goes to planning board
The Whitefish Christian Academy has applied with the city to expand its school building on Ashar Avenue.
The school is requesting a conditional use permit that would allow it to expand its existing building by 11,00-square-feet to include a two-story classroom, administration, bathroom area and an auditorium/cafeteria. A new parking lot is also proposed to the west side of the building accessing of East Eighth Street and an expanded parking area to the east of the building off Ashar Avenue.
The school’s request is set to go before the city Planning Board on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. at City Hall for a public hearing.
City Council in 2014 allowed for the academy to utilize two temporary classrooms to the west of the school while WCA planned to expansion. The temporary classrooms added to the site in 2015 will be removed.
Neighbors of the school submitted comments to the city with concerns regarding increased traffic in the area along with concerns that the current road configuration on East Eighth Street does not function well.
The project plans to increase parking to a total of 84 spaces meeting the city standard for parking.
Traffic circulation is proposed to change with the project. Currently, traffic enters and exists off Ashar Avenue and employees used a paved area on the north side of the building off East Eight Street, which is one-way to the west.
“This circulation pattern has caused confusion in the neighborhood, as expressed by several neighbors,” according to planning staff.
The proposal calls for the north entrance into the school to be removed and parent and student traffic to enter off East Eighth Street and exit remaining the same.
Employee traffic would enter and exit either Ashar or Park avenue into a new parking lot on the west side of the building. Parking on the north side of the building would be removed.
Due to increased usage, the Public Works Department is requesting that East Eighth Street be upgraded to a two-way street with curb and gutter on both sides and also include a sidewalk with a 6-foot boulevard on one side of the road.
Planning staff is recommending approval of the project subject to nine conditions.
Also on the agenda:
- A request by Matt Danford for a conditional use permit to construct an accessory apartment over a proposed two-car garage at 1047 Columbia Avenue.
- A request by Courtland Chelmo for a conditional use permit to construct an accessory apartment above an existing garage at 725 Riverside Drive.
- A request by Sandra Hartman to rezone one parcel from one-family residential to two-family residential at 1320 Wisconsin Avenue. The property currently contains a single-family residence on the southern of the two lots, and the zone change would permit development of a duplex on the northern of the two lots as planned by the owner.
The full planning board packet is available on the city’s website at www.cityofwhitefish.org