[0:00] appeals for case number 2020-01
[0:06] my name is dara spencer and i am the
[0:09] chair of the chesapeake beach board
[0:11] of appeals tonight's hearing is being
[0:15] conducted
[0:16] virtually each member of the board is
[0:19] participating
[0:20] remotely the hearing is being
[0:24] live streamed and will be published on
[0:27] youtube
[0:29] for those persons logged on to this
[0:32] meeting
[0:34] or uh
[0:40] on the call you'll have an opportunity
[0:43] to speak ask questions
[0:46] and comment for the record
[0:49] at the appropriate time i will ask for
[0:51] your comments
[0:54] so let me take a roll call element of
[0:57] the members
[0:59] and call this hearing to order
[1:04] mr david ferguson are you here
[1:07] i'm here miss kelly stewart
[1:11] are you here
[1:18] mr jody home star are you here
[1:26] miss jane ruttke are you here
[1:29] yes i am and i would like to
[1:33] welcome you jane as the new member
[1:37] thank you darth to the board of
[1:39] appearance
[1:42] okay uh let it be recorded that we have
[1:44] a quorum
[1:47] also with us sharon hume
[1:51] who is the town clerk and secretary to
[1:53] the board of appeals
[1:55] frederick sussman who is the attorney
[1:58] for the board of appeals
[2:00] and christopher jacoba
[2:04] which is the town planner and zoning
[2:07] administrator
[2:09] the purpose of this hearing is to
[2:11] consent to consider
[2:13] two requests from the calvin county
[2:16] board of education
[2:18] the board of education is proposing to
[2:20] develop
[2:22] 7900 old bayside road in order to
[2:25] replace
[2:26] beach elementary school with a new
[2:29] school building
[2:31] the first request is for a special
[2:35] exception in order to use the property
[2:38] of seventy nine hundred old bayside bill
[2:43] for a public school the second request
[2:46] is the variance the applicant
[2:50] would like to modify the zoning
[2:52] ordinances
[2:54] maximum height limit so that the new
[2:57] school building can exceed the limit of
[2:59] 35 feet
[3:02] we will hear the special exception case
[3:06] first only after we've heard all the
[3:09] evidence on the special exception
[3:12] and any public comment will we take up
[3:16] the variance case once we've heard all
[3:19] the testimony on
[3:21] the variants including public comments
[3:24] we will close the hearing and move into
[3:27] deliberations
[3:28] it is my intention that we decide both
[3:32] matters this evening
[3:36] before we begin testimony
[3:39] i like to ask mr sussman to swear in
[3:42] everyone
[3:44] who intends to offer comments and
[3:46] testify at this
[3:48] evening's hearing on either
[3:51] the special exception and or the
[3:54] variance
[3:55] so if you wish to speak to the board
[3:57] this evening
[3:58] on these matters please prepare now
[4:02] to be sworn in
[4:06] so if anybody who would like to or
[4:08] intend
[4:09] to speak to the board tonight would
[4:11] raise your right hand
[4:13] i will administer the oath
[4:17] do you follow solidly swear or affirm
[4:20] under the penalties of perjury that the
[4:23] testimony
[4:24] you are about to give and the responses
[4:27] and statements
[4:28] you are about to make will be the whole
[4:30] truth
[4:31] and nothing but the truth and signify
[4:34] by saying i do i do
[4:39] well the record reflects that many
[4:42] people have
[4:44] indicated they intend to testify and
[4:46] have taken the oath
[4:51] thank you madam chair okay
[4:54] now i'd like to ask the board secretary
[4:57] sharon hume to confirm that this meeting
[5:00] was properly notified
[5:02] and advertised as required by town code
[5:08] yes the pop pro the property was posted
[5:11] on july 27th
[5:13] uh in three areas on the property um
[5:17] advertised in the southern maryland
[5:18] newspaper beginning uh
[5:20] on the july 24th edition and then ran
[5:24] for
[5:24] three weeks thereafter uh the adjacent
[5:27] property owners were notified by
[5:29] certified mail by letter dated july 31st
[5:34] okay good these documents will now be uh
[5:39] recorded as exhibits
[5:43] now let's begin with the application
[5:45] [Music]
[5:46] before i turn to the town planner for a
[5:49] summary
[5:50] i'd like mr sussman to take a moment to
[5:53] explain
[5:54] what special exceptions and variances
[5:57] are
[5:58] and what criteria we will use to make
[6:01] our decisions
[6:04] thank you madam chair first we have
[6:07] what's known as a special exception is a use that the
[6:14] count council has determined is
[6:16] appropriate
[6:17] and compatible in a particular zoning
[6:20] district
[6:21] as well as certain criteria are
[6:23] satisfied
[6:28] in deciding to approve or deny a special
[6:31] exception
[6:32] the board applies standards that are set
[6:35] forth
[6:36] in section 290-12-d
[6:40] of the zoning ordinance each standard
[6:44] must be satisfied and the applicant
[6:47] has the burden of proof there are
[6:50] six standards which i will read to you
[6:53] now
[6:54] number one the establishment
[6:57] maintenance and operation of the special
[7:00] exception
[7:01] will not be detrimental to or endanger
[7:05] the public health safety or general
[7:07] welfare
[7:09] number two the special exception
[7:13] shall be such that it will be harmonious
[7:15] in character
[7:17] as well as appropriate in appearance
[7:20] with
[7:21] and will not be injurious to the use
[7:25] and enjoyment of other property in the
[7:27] neighborhood
[7:29] for the purposes already permitted nor
[7:34] they canceled mine what was that i
[7:36] thought it was bernie
[7:38] i know but i thought it was coming out
[7:40] of bernie's throat
[7:42] uh can somebody abuse themselves please
[7:48] so as i was saying the uh
[7:52] the youth will not be injurious to the
[7:55] youth and enjoyment of other property in
[7:57] the neighborhood
[7:58] for the purposes already permitted nor
[8:00] substantially diminish
[8:02] and impair property values within the
[8:05] neighborhood
[8:07] three the establishment of the special
[8:10] exception
[8:10] will not impede the normal and orderly
[8:14] development
[8:15] and improvement of surrounding
[8:17] properties
[8:18] for the uses permitted in the zoning
[8:21] district
[8:22] number four the establishment
[8:26] and operation of the special exception
[8:29] will not adversely impact the capacity
[8:33] and or safety of the town infrastructure
[8:37] such as roads water and sewer drainage
[8:40] and things of that nature
[8:43] fine the special exception shall be such
[8:47] that pedestrian and vehicular traffic
[8:50] associated with such use
[8:53] will not be hazardous to or unduly
[8:56] conflict
[8:57] with the existing and anticipated
[8:59] traffic
[9:00] in the neighborhood and finally number
[9:03] six
[9:05] the establishment maintenance and
[9:07] operation
[9:08] of the special exception are consistent
[9:11] with the town of chesapeake beach
[9:13] comprehensive plan
[9:15] so those are the six criteria that the
[9:18] board
[9:18] has to consider and make positive
[9:21] findings on
[9:22] in order to grant a special exception
[9:25] now let me turn for a moment to a
[9:27] variance is a modification
[9:32] to the strict application of the
[9:35] dimensional standards
[9:36] of the zoning ordinance there are times
[9:40] when an applicant
[9:41] faces significant limitations
[9:45] in the ability to develop land because
[9:48] of the lay of the land or
[9:50] some other physical condition of these
[9:52] plants such as
[9:54] shape or topography and cannot meet the
[9:57] dimensional standard
[9:58] or finds that trying to meet the
[10:00] standard
[10:01] he or she would experience a hardship
[10:06] the zoning ordinance provides or allows
[10:09] for the
[10:10] standard to be modified or varied
[10:14] but in order for the board to approve a
[10:16] variance an
[10:18] applicant must prove and the board must
[10:20] find
[10:22] that certain standards are met for a
[10:24] very
[10:25] for a variance there are five standards
[10:28] that must be met
[10:30] first that the granting of the variants
[10:34] will be in harmony with the general
[10:36] purpose
[10:37] and intent of the zoning ordinance
[10:40] and shall not be injurious to the
[10:43] neighborhood
[10:44] or otherwise detrimental to the public
[10:46] welfare
[10:48] number two that the granting of the
[10:51] variance
[10:52] will not permit the existence within the
[10:55] zoning district of any use which is not
[10:58] permitted
[10:58] in that district number three
[11:02] that there are special circumstances or
[11:05] conditions
[11:06] fully described in the board findings
[11:08] applying to the land
[11:10] or buildings for which the variance is
[11:12] sought
[11:14] which circumstances or conditions are
[11:16] peculiar to the land of buildings
[11:19] and do not apply generally to land or
[11:22] buildings
[11:23] in the neighborhood and that the
[11:25] circumstances or conditions
[11:27] are such that the strict interpretation
[11:30] of the provisions of the zoning chapter
[11:33] would deprive the applicant of the
[11:36] reasonable use
[11:37] of the lander building number four
[11:42] that there exists unnecessary hardship
[11:45] if the hardship unnecessary hardship
[11:48] if the hardship is general that is
[11:51] shared
[11:52] generally by lander buildings of the
[11:54] neighborhood relief
[11:56] should be properly obtained only by
[11:59] legislative action
[12:01] by the town council or by court review
[12:05] of the attack on the validity of the
[12:08] zoning ordinance
[12:10] and finally number five and again i
[12:13] would ask
[12:13] somebody who uh has their uh
[12:17] mic on to please mute
[12:20] that the granting of the variance is
[12:22] necessary for the reasonable use of the
[12:25] land
[12:25] or building and that's invariance
[12:29] as granted by the board is the minimum
[12:32] variance
[12:32] that will accomplish the purpose so
[12:36] those
[12:36] five standards must be found by the
[12:38] board
[12:39] in order to grab the variance thank you
[12:44] we're going to take up the special
[12:46] exception
[12:48] first so in a moment i will ask mr
[12:51] jakubiak
[12:53] to summarize the special exception
[12:55] requests
[12:57] after we have had an opportunity to ask
[13:00] chris questions
[13:02] i will ask the applicant to introduce
[13:04] those members
[13:05] who will be offering testimony and to
[13:08] present the case
[13:10] on the special exception i want to
[13:13] repeat
[13:14] that i would like to hear the case
[13:18] for the special exception first
[13:21] once we've heard the applicant's case
[13:24] for the special exception
[13:26] we will hear from anyone who may wish to
[13:28] testify
[13:29] on behalf of or in opposition to
[13:33] the special exception then i will close
[13:37] the testimony on
[13:39] the special exception and we'll start
[13:42] again but this time
[13:43] with the variance after we finish the
[13:46] presentation of
[13:48] evidence and the public comment on the
[13:51] variants
[13:53] we will formally begin our deliberate
[13:55] deliberations
[13:57] and decide each matter if
[14:02] there is no objection from the board
[14:05] i'd like to ask the town planner staff
[14:10] uh be entered into the record as
[14:13] an exhibit
[14:16] okay mr jacobiak please summarize the
[14:19] special
[14:20] exception application
[14:25] okay thank you um first i'd like to ask
[14:27] holly uh who i believe is posting
[14:30] tonight's meeting if she could share the
[14:34] screen allow me to share the screen
[14:35] so i can place an exhibit on
[14:39] your monitors
[14:42] sure you should be able to share
[14:49] uh well right now it says uh host
[14:51] disabled
[14:53] attendee screen sharing
[14:59] okay go ahead
[15:10] okay
[15:12] can everyone see the aerial photograph
[15:17] showing the school and the neighborhood
[15:20] yes indeed okay yes
[15:24] now especially the members thank you
[15:28] the um the application for a special
[15:32] exception
[15:34] uh is required under the zoning
[15:35] ordinance to redevelop
[15:37] this property it's currently the home as
[15:40] you know
[15:41] to beach elementary school which is
[15:43] about 65 000 square feet
[15:46] of building coverage uh
[15:49] it's located at the inner section
[15:54] bayside road and bayside road
[15:58] at 7 900 bayside and um i wanted to
[16:01] point out a couple of features
[16:03] that are relevant to tonight's
[16:04] discussion first the
[16:06] front of the school property along
[16:09] bayside road is largely devoted to
[16:13] recreational uh
[16:16] activities there's tennis courts there's
[16:18] a small
[16:20] park in a little grove of trees
[16:24] it's generally recognized as an open
[16:25] space amenity for
[16:27] the town i wanted to mention that there
[16:29] is a sidewalk
[16:30] along bayside road it's a five-foot
[16:34] sidewalk it exists today
[16:36] has been there for many many years there
[16:38] is no sidewalk
[16:40] on the east side of bayside road
[16:44] and there is no sidewalk south of old
[16:47] bayside road
[16:49] there is no sidewalk on old bayside road
[16:52] either those are existing conditions
[16:55] um i also wanted to point out that
[16:59] the site is 17 acres in size
[17:05] but a major part of the site is
[17:09] simply undevelopable or couldn't be
[17:12] developed without substantial impact to
[17:15] the environment
[17:17] this forested area is part of the
[17:20] property
[17:21] there are steep slopes here and there
[17:24] are wetlands
[17:26] here's the marsh that um
[17:30] characterizes the town and you can see
[17:33] the the railway trail
[17:37] just north of the site over the marsh
[17:42] uh here's e street which is almost at
[17:45] the
[17:45] just beyond the edge of the property and
[17:47] here's the water tower site
[17:49] which stands at about 135 foot tall
[17:52] um and will remit
[17:55] will always remain a prominent feature
[17:58] in this
[17:58] the uh landscape
[18:04] side of the town so i i mentioned the
[18:07] sidewalks only to
[18:08] indicate to you that they're not very
[18:11] adequate just yet
[18:12] but the project itself is going to make
[18:14] a major contribution
[18:15] to improving the situation um the school will be providing a
[18:23] sky a sidewalk connection from
[18:26] bayside road all the way through the
[18:29] frontage of the property
[18:31] um and i know that the applicant will
[18:34] make
[18:35] an extraordinary presentation like he
[18:37] did in front of the planning commission
[18:39] a couple weeks back
[18:40] and he will show you where that sidewalk
[18:42] on
[18:46] and how it works to separate kids
[18:50] from buses and kids from vehicle traffic
[18:53] um you might also wonder about how
[18:56] kids from south of
[19:02] uh enter the school site
[19:05] for the time being there is no sidewalk
[19:07] here but there is a sidewalk proposed
[19:10] as part of the safe routes to school
[19:12] project which is a state
[19:14] funding program in cooperation with
[19:16] towns to develop
[19:17] sidewalks uh it's certainly
[19:20] our hope when i say that i mean me as
[19:23] staff in the planning commission
[19:25] that is looking at improving walkability
[19:28] in chesapeake beach
[19:30] it is our hope that sidewalks will
[19:33] eventually be built that will connect
[19:35] the neighborhood to the school
[19:38] the planning commission thinks it's
[19:40] important
[19:43] at least have the ability to walk to
[19:45] school and
[19:46] so that's a part of this project that i
[19:49] think these
[19:50] the applicants have gone a long way to
[19:52] helping us
[19:53] realize and you'll see that in a few
[19:56] moments
[19:58] um there are a number of standards as
[20:02] mr sussman mentioned that have to be met
[20:05] and it's up to the applicant to prove to
[20:07] you that each of those
[20:08] standards are met but i'd like
[20:12] you to keep in mind that this site has
[20:14] been a school
[20:16] site since 1953
[20:19] and over time it has
[20:23] been expanded and morphed into its
[20:26] current configuration
[20:28] there have been a number of additions to
[20:29] it over time
[20:31] the current capacity of the school is
[20:35] about 471 students and
[20:38] over time that the actual enrollment has
[20:40] exceeded capacity
[20:42] uh and i am not aware of there being any
[20:45] significant impacts of that school site
[20:48] on adjoining properties or in health or
[20:50] safety or public welfare
[20:51] these things that our standards ask us
[20:54] to look at
[20:56] the proposed school will have a capacity
[20:59] of uh
[21:06] 474 or actually i can't remember right
[21:08] now i'll have to look
[21:10] um to verify that but it's going to be
[21:12] roughly 500
[21:13] roughly 100 students more um
[21:18] and then looking through the staff
[21:19] report
[21:21] 578 578 thank you thank you
[21:25] so i i um
[21:29] i wanted to mention that however the
[21:31] school building itself
[21:32] in terms of its footprint on the
[21:34] landscape is going to be about ten
[21:36] thousand square feet smaller
[21:38] um and in part that's a reflection of
[21:41] the fact that
[21:42] it's difficult to build a new school
[21:46] on a site that's constrained
[21:48] environmentally
[21:50] and keep the students in school while
[21:52] you're doing it
[21:53] so the proposal will be to maintain
[21:58] the existing buildings or building while
[22:00] the new school is being built
[22:02] and um it's a fact that
[22:05] there's not much room
[22:09] on this site to do school uh
[22:13] that is your traditional suburban
[22:15] sprawling school
[22:17] and uh in response to those conditions
[22:19] uh the
[22:20] architecture and engineering team took a
[22:22] pretty innovative approach to address
[22:25] site conditions and and to minimize the
[22:27] impact of
[22:28] the new building on the town on streets
[22:32] on the neighborhood and
[22:38] standards that have to be met um
[22:42] so regarding standard one i just want to
[22:44] take a quick summary and i know the
[22:46] applicant will present
[22:47] this information too but many ways on
[22:51] divorcing but they will say
[22:54] the the use will not be detrimental to
[22:58] or endanger the public health or safety
[23:01] uh regarding uh standard one as i
[23:09] mentioned the school has existed since
[23:10] 1953
[23:12] um and ingress and egress
[23:15] have not appeared to create any safety
[23:16] concerns the current proposal that
[23:18] you'll see tonight
[23:19] um addresses a lot of access issues
[23:23] and seeks to separate pedestrians from
[23:27] vehicles
[23:28] um regarding standard two uh the
[23:31] special exception will be harmonious in
[23:33] character as well as appropriate in
[23:35] appearance appearance
[23:37] and will not injure the enjoyment of
[23:39] property in the neighborhood
[23:42] i wanted to mention that the
[23:43] illustrations that you have in your
[23:45] package
[23:47] are designed to indicate that the
[23:48] building will use materials and
[23:50] architectural styles and motifs
[23:53] with local precedent they're drawn from
[23:56] chesapeake beach in the
[23:57] existing built environment
[24:02] and the applicant i'm
[24:05] fairly certain will take time to
[24:07] demonstrate how their proposed building
[24:10] while it will be taller in places than
[24:12] the current building
[24:13] uh has been designed to fit compatibly
[24:16] uh within this residential neighborhood
[24:22] regarding standard three the
[24:25] establishment of the special exception would not impede the
[24:28] normal and orderly development
[24:30] of surrounding properties um as you know
[24:32] the area is largely developed now there
[24:36] are houses on
[24:37] old bayside road and there are houses on
[24:40] 15th street uh they exist today
[24:43] and the school has existed there in a
[24:46] harmonious way more or less
[24:48] uh for many decades and we don't
[24:51] anticipate that
[24:52] changing uh with the just a change in
[24:54] the configuration of the building in the
[24:56] site
[24:58] regarding standard four
[25:03] the establishment and operation of the
[25:05] special exception will not adversely
[25:07] impact the capacity and safety of the
[25:09] town
[25:10] infrastructure uh roads water sewer and
[25:12] drainage
[25:19] the water and sewer systems are
[25:22] more than adequate to serve the the
[25:25] school
[25:27] um in fact
[25:30] while i my my belief is having looked at
[25:33] this is that the actual
[25:34] usage of water and sewage may be
[25:37] at least the water demand will be um
[25:42] maybe less than the current school
[25:44] because all the fixtures will be modern
[25:46] and
[25:46] energy or water conservation fixtures
[25:51] the impacted aerial roads will be
[25:55] not be materially different than
[25:58] the current usage buses will have a
[26:01] special one-way route
[26:03] from an in to antu bay old bay side road
[26:06] for drop off and pickup
[26:08] there won't be buses lined up on old
[26:11] bayside road
[26:13] there's also going to be a fairly
[26:15] extensive sidewalk network along the
[26:17] perimeter of the property
[26:22] number five this special exception will
[26:25] be such that pedestrian and vehicle
[26:27] traffic
[26:28] uh would not be hazardous to or unduly
[26:31] conflict with the existing
[26:33] and anticipated traffic in the
[26:35] neighborhood
[26:37] the only reservation i have about this
[26:39] and this is something that i will
[26:40] certainly take up with the
[26:41] um the engineer is that the current
[26:44] sidewalk
[26:45] ends um the sidewalk that's proposed by the
[26:51] applicant
[26:52] ends about 130 feet or so short of
[26:56] an intersection so it kind of stops mid
[26:58] block
[26:59] just before it gets to
[27:03] e street and because of that that's an
[27:06] issue and um we would like to coordinate with
[27:10] the
[27:10] school to ensure that that connection
[27:13] gets
[27:14] built in a reasonable time and that's
[27:16] something that i like to coordinate
[27:18] between our town engineer
[27:19] and the the applicant's engineer so that
[27:22] we're all in the same
[27:24] wavelength uh and we're all marching in
[27:27] the same direction about getting that
[27:28] sidewall
[27:29] accomplished in a reasonable time that
[27:32] sidewalk
[27:33] all the way to e street is actually part
[27:34] of the safe safe routes to school
[27:37] plan that we're working with the state
[27:39] highway administration on
[27:41] and the last standard is about the
[27:43] comprehensive plan
[27:45] um and uh
[27:48] the established maintenance and
[27:49] operation of this special exception are
[27:51] consistent with the comprehensive plan
[27:53] chesapeake beach well the plan calls for
[27:56] school at this site obviously and hasn't
[27:58] departed from that
[27:59] through a number of iterations of the comprehensive plan
[28:07] social science being connected to it it
[28:10] shows a park and recreational resource
[28:12] being made
[28:13] out of the school so that the school
[28:15] continues to be a a
[28:16] park we have a map in the comprehensive
[28:18] plan that shows p for park right on the school property and i'm
[28:21] happy to say that the school is actually
[28:23] showing that very thing and in that
[28:25] respect it's retained that
[28:27] character that the current school has
[28:29] the tennis courts up in the front
[28:32] um park and open space and in fact
[28:36] from my standpoint as a urban planner
[28:39] i've i see that the schools actually
[28:41] improved upon that
[28:43] part of the town's character
[28:47] by actually expanding the accessibility
[28:50] of that open space and
[28:51] building upon it and i'm certain that
[28:53] the applicant will
[28:54] discuss that today the one part that
[28:58] these schools um i
[29:01] still need to address and i and as
[29:04] indicated to me
[29:05] and to the planning commission its
[29:06] willingness to address
[29:08] is connecting these school property
[29:11] to the rails or to the fishing creek
[29:14] trail project
[29:15] um and that's a something of vital importance
[29:21] to the comprehensive planet of town and
[29:23] i'm very confident that uh we'll take
[29:25] that issue up when this matter goes back
[29:27] to the planning commission
[29:29] but i wanted to hire that like that to
[29:31] you um
[29:32] and if you have any questions about the
[29:33] applicant on that specific point
[29:35] uh you could certainly that can
[29:37] certainly be a discussion tonight
[29:40] although it does not need to be because
[29:41] i feel the applicant has
[29:44] indicated a clear willingness to to
[29:47] close the window on that issue
[29:50] and work with us to at least identify
[29:53] where that
[29:54] alignment might be in the future or best
[29:56] could be to connect the school property
[29:58] to the town's fishing creek railway
[30:01] trail
[30:03] so in summary on the special exception
[30:08] oops
[30:12] sorry trying to get there
[30:19] on the special exception request the applicant proposes to completely
[30:26] redevelop
[30:27] this property the building
[30:30] mass that is located here now in the
[30:33] front
[30:34] will largely be shifted to this area
[30:37] where my where i'm circling here um
[30:40] and much of this area will be devoted to
[30:44] open space and
[30:45] recreational amenities um
[30:49] the impact to the natural environment
[30:52] will be substantially minimized there's
[30:54] very little incursion into
[30:56] the critical area buffer or wetlands
[30:59] and to the extent there is any incursion
[31:02] into the wetlands
[31:03] the town has already found that those
[31:06] con incursions which are quite minimal
[31:08] actually
[31:09] amounting to about 10 to 13 000 square
[31:12] feet
[31:13] are necessary for the project they
[31:15] actually repair stormwater management
[31:17] outfall which will improve the
[31:18] environmental condition
[31:21] and and these incursions or cutouts of
[31:24] the
[31:24] natural area are actually consistent
[31:27] with the plan
[31:28] because any tree that is removed will be
[31:32] replaced within the buffer any shrubs or
[31:34] natural vegetation
[31:36] will be replaced essentially in the same
[31:38] location where they're removed
[31:40] but certainly within the official
[31:42] critical area buffer
[31:43] and we've been in contact with the
[31:46] critical area commission now
[31:47] already and uh we've gotten guidance
[31:50] from them
[31:50] and i feel confident that the final plan
[31:53] will implement the critical area
[31:54] regulations
[31:56] um just fine uh so that's my summary uh dr spencer
[32:04] if there's no objection from the board
[32:06] i'd like the town
[32:08] plan and staff report entered into the
[32:10] record
[32:11] as uh an exhibit
[32:15] hey mr jacobiak please summarize the
[32:18] special exception
[32:20] oh well i i know i i did a
[32:24] well just to summarize um the
[32:28] i believe the applicant has met the
[32:29] criteria for the special exception
[32:32] and while my presentation is
[32:35] simply focused on an existing map i
[32:37] wanted to save
[32:38] the actual plan documents for the
[32:40] applicant to present
[32:42] which i'm certain he's ready to do
[32:45] okay are there any questions from the
[32:47] board
[32:51] none here as well no
[33:05] okay let's hear from the applicant on
[33:09] this
[33:10] matter
[33:16] there if i may share my screen this is
[33:18] ron ilkovich
[33:19] sei architects representing calvert
[33:21] county public schools
[33:24] i'm getting a message that the host has
[33:26] disabled attendee screen sharing
[33:37] let me know when you see my screen
[33:40] someone could let me know that'd be
[33:41] great we see it
[33:44] awesome great uh if it's all right i'd
[33:46] like to
[33:48] make a presentation of the project in
[33:49] its entirety and then break down the
[33:51] special exception
[33:52] first and the variance but just to keep
[33:55] the presentation consistent
[33:57] i'll just i'll run through the entire
[33:59] project and explain it all because i
[34:00] think there are pieces
[34:03] of the project and the presentation that
[34:05] address both the special exception and
[34:07] the variance
[34:09] uh if that's okay uh as was outlined
[34:12] ahead of time chris you did a great job
[34:15] we're here to present the our
[34:17] preliminary plan for the replacement of
[34:18] the beach elementary school
[34:20] on its current site which includes the
[34:22] school
[34:23] as well as site improvements around the
[34:25] school and associated with the school
[34:28] and we're here to request that special
[34:29] exception to allow us to redevelop the
[34:31] site
[34:32] in its current existing use as a
[34:34] elementary school in the medium density
[34:36] residential zone
[34:37] and after that we're going we're here to
[34:40] also request
[34:41] a variance to exceed that 35 height foot
[34:43] height limitation
[34:45] before i begin i want to share a little
[34:47] bit about the process
[34:48] that we went through to get here you can
[34:51] see that there are many
[34:52] attendees to this meeting and many of
[34:54] those represent
[34:55] what we call our stakeholder advisory
[34:57] group
[34:58] the process that we took to get here was
[35:00] extremely collaborative
[35:02] it included both a feasibility study as
[35:04] well as a schematic design process
[35:06] and a lot of those members of that
[35:08] stakeholder group many of whom i
[35:10] again are on the call today are
[35:12] dedicated community members
[35:14] school administrators teachers parents
[35:16] people who grew up in the community
[35:19] all of whom participated in the process
[35:21] and i want to really emphasize
[35:23] that the the results of that process
[35:26] that you're going to see before you
[35:27] today
[35:27] are really result of the impact and the
[35:30] input that those people brought to that
[35:32] commitment that they made to be part of
[35:34] that stakeholder advisory group
[35:35] so i can't thank everybody enough for
[35:37] their involvement in this project
[35:40] another influence in the project and a
[35:42] stakeholder group is a town of
[35:43] chesapeake beach
[35:45] we took very much into consideration the
[35:47] 2040
[35:48] vision plan and that was a guide to our
[35:50] stakeholder group
[35:51] and we found amongst the stakeholder
[35:53] group that many of the goals
[35:55] and the ideals of that 2040 vision were
[35:57] the same goals and ideals that we had
[35:59] for our project
[36:00] the the idea of how we fit into the town plan the scale of the town
[36:05] the uh the environmental impact and the
[36:08] importance of the bay
[36:09] and the environment and the local
[36:11] ecology that had to both the town
[36:13] as well as to the school committee uh so
[36:16] before you have our kind of an analysis of the
[36:20] existing condition
[36:21] on the bottom right corner sorry i'll
[36:23] start at the top right
[36:25] this is one of the most special school
[36:27] sites i think we've ever had a great
[36:29] opportunity to work on
[36:30] uh you can see from the project site
[36:33] within a quarter mile so a five minute
[36:35] walk of the waterfront of the chesapeake bay
[36:37] as well as the fishing creek site
[36:40] within a half mile walk a 10-minute walk
[36:42] we cross the bridge into downtown
[36:44] chesapeake beach so
[36:45] the idea of the semi-urban environment
[36:48] the local ecology
[36:49] those are all pieces that make
[36:51] chesapeake beach elementary school what
[36:52] it is
[36:53] and something that we really want to
[36:54] celebrate in our project
[36:56] uh also was mentioned the idea of the
[36:59] interconnectivity of the town and this
[37:01] is a major emphasis of that 2040 vision
[37:03] as well
[37:04] so whether it be through pedestrian
[37:06] pathways or bicycle pathways you can see
[37:08] how that
[37:09] project site of the chesapeake beach
[37:10] elementary school is really integral to
[37:12] that interconnection of that town
[37:14] uh in a different way other than just
[37:16] driving to everywhere that you go
[37:18] as we move into the site we see some of
[37:21] the impacts that the
[37:22] existing conditions give us and although
[37:25] the site is 17
[37:26] acres in size as chris mentioned a lot
[37:29] of that is steep topography
[37:31] we have wetlands uh buffers as well
[37:34] as forest buffers for that forested area
[37:37] behind the school
[37:38] uh we also have the existing uh zoning
[37:41] setbacks which we are respecting with
[37:43] the project
[37:44] uh sorry environmental buffer offset
[37:47] setbacks as well as the existing
[37:49] building
[37:50] and the existing building will remain in
[37:52] place while we are
[37:54] under construction remain in operation
[37:56] while we're under construction
[37:57] uh and one thing i may point out here is
[37:59] that existing building has a large
[38:01] number of portables and outbuildings
[38:03] associated with it which really
[38:04] demonstrates the need for this project
[38:07] eliminating all those those portable
[38:09] classrooms and bringing those children into a proper elementary
[38:13] school environment
[38:14] is really important to all of us as
[38:16] community members
[38:18] all of those things together really give
[38:20] us a very limited building area
[38:22] and you can see that identified within
[38:24] this bubble on the diagram
[38:26] before you and for that reason we're
[38:29] looking for that special exception and
[38:30] also sharing that as the constraints of
[38:32] the site and the hardships that the site
[38:34] uh offered to this project
[38:39] sorry um i mentioned the idea of the
[38:42] existing school building remaining in
[38:43] place
[38:44] as a result we're limited to that
[38:46] building area to the west of the
[38:47] existing school building
[38:49] and we'll be implementing this project
[38:50] in such a way that it can be built on
[38:52] the site
[38:53] while the existing building's still in
[38:54] operation and you can see a phasing diagram here in which the
[38:58] existing building would be constructed
[39:00] once it can be constructed and occupied
[39:02] the new the once the new building is
[39:04] constructed and occupied sorry the
[39:05] existing building and portables can be
[39:07] demolished and removed
[39:08] and the remainder of the site in the
[39:10] final phase be completed
[39:12] intended for school year of 2023.
[39:16] moving into the site itself i want to
[39:18] share a little bit about what our
[39:20] process looked like
[39:22] knowing where the building really had to
[39:23] go the only buildable area of the site
[39:26] we started with this diagram
[39:27] on the top left it took the idea of how
[39:31] does the site now relate to the building
[39:33] and how does the site also relate to the
[39:35] town in that
[39:36] town master plan and with the building
[39:38] in this location
[39:40] we identified areas of program in the
[39:42] building that would relate directly to
[39:44] program in the site
[39:45] and in doing so we developed a series of
[39:47] these five zones
[39:48] across the site of the building there's
[39:50] obviously the building area
[39:52] and that's the school building zone to
[39:54] the west of the school building zone
[39:56] is the service and play areas for the
[39:58] school kind of a private more private
[40:00] uh controlled play area for the school
[40:02] and that relates directly to the gym in
[40:04] the cafeteria zone that would be in the
[40:06] school
[40:06] and being this far on back on the site
[40:08] it's also the ideal place for service
[40:11] to the building on the front of the site
[40:13] it would relate to the entry sequence
[40:15] the secure entry
[40:17] gathering places outdoor learning areas
[40:19] in the front of the site
[40:20] from a staff from a town standpoint a
[40:23] town planning standpoint
[40:24] what we wanted to avoid was the idea of
[40:27] building a huge parking lot with a
[40:29] school behind it and presenting that
[40:31] kind of image
[40:32] and chris spoke very eloquently about
[40:34] the idea where the school
[40:35] we really wanted to envision it or give
[40:37] it the image of a park
[40:39] and a school within a park and for that
[40:42] reason we put the transit zone so the
[40:44] parking the drop off area and the bus
[40:46] loop behind what we're calling a public
[40:48] green
[40:49] so the face of the school from bayside
[40:51] road would would be this public green
[40:53] and then the school would occur behind
[40:55] that public green
[40:56] we then went into the implementation of
[40:58] that idea
[41:00] how we would zone the building out with the program of the school the
[41:04] playgrounds the play areas the play
[41:06] fields and the existing tennis court
[41:08] to end up with the design that you see
[41:10] on the top right of your screen here
[41:13] and i'll just explain the design from east to west
[41:16] from old bayside road we intend to
[41:18] provide a park-like setting
[41:20] again the existing tennis courts will
[41:21] remain the the project is designed such
[41:24] that a lot of the
[41:25] significant trees in this front area
[41:27] those large trees will
[41:28] also remain once our project is complete
[41:31] and behind that
[41:32] a play field uh and a natural trail kind
[41:34] of a green
[41:35] front to the building so parkland motif
[41:38] uh
[41:38] once we get beyond that into what we're
[41:40] calling the transit zone
[41:41] the parking lot and the bus loop really
[41:44] exists in an area where it's not the
[41:45] first thing the most prominent thing
[41:46] that you would experience from bayside
[41:48] road
[41:49] likewise on old bayside road we want to
[41:52] develop a green buffer zone
[41:54] buffering the building and any hard
[41:56] surfaces from old bayside road
[41:58] and create kind of this meandering
[42:00] pathway which is our sidewalk
[42:02] system connecting the two corners of our
[42:03] site here
[42:05] moving back to the building the media
[42:07] center the administration
[42:09] uh all relate to outdoor learning
[42:11] environments and i want to point out
[42:12] that by putting the administration proud
[42:14] on the southeast corner of the building
[42:16] it provides us an ideal security posture
[42:19] this is a little bit higher on the site
[42:21] and from this position it can surveil
[42:23] the entire
[42:24] front of the site as well as anybody
[42:26] coming from old bayside road
[42:27] so anyone who comes to the building
[42:29] they'll see you coming before you get to
[42:31] the front door
[42:32] that surveillance uh is a very important
[42:35] component of the school security system
[42:38] and then on the back of the site is all
[42:39] our kids play areas the schools play
[42:42] field
[42:42] related to the gym the outdoor
[42:44] playground areas related to the
[42:46] cafeteria on that
[42:48] site uh circulation through the site was
[42:51] also a critical component
[42:52] particularly for safety reasons in our
[42:54] design process
[42:56] you'll notice that with the sidewalk
[42:58] system coming in in all three major
[43:00] corners of the building
[43:01] a pedestrian student can walk to the
[43:04] front door
[43:05] without ever crossing any piece of
[43:07] traffic so whether you're you're
[43:10] coming into park or you're coming in to
[43:11] drop a child off or if the bus
[43:14] is coming to drop kids off once you get
[43:16] on that site you're able to access the
[43:18] front of the school and that front door
[43:19] without ever crossing traffic which is a
[43:21] significant
[43:22] safety uh item that we tried to
[43:25] incorporate into the design of the
[43:27] school
[43:28] likewise the circulation is also
[43:30] intended to segregate
[43:32] uh vehicle traffic parent drop-off and
[43:34] the bus
[43:35] loop circulation patterns in their
[43:37] entirety so right now those patterns
[43:39] overlap so
[43:40] parents drop off with school buses and they all
[43:43] enter interface with one another the
[43:46] idea now is that any parent dropping off
[43:48] student will do so
[43:50] essentially where they come into the
[43:51] parking lot now only we've developed a
[43:53] very
[43:54] long neck for those parents to stack
[43:55] along and they would drive down this
[43:57] lane
[43:58] and drop off directly on the sidewalk
[44:00] again the intent here
[44:02] is multiple one is any student who is
[44:04] dropped off or picked up by a parent
[44:06] does so directly from a sidewalk and
[44:08] never crosses traffic to get to that
[44:10] safety point
[44:11] the other is safety of the vehicles on
[44:13] bayside road
[44:15] creating this long neck means that no
[44:16] one is stopped on old
[44:18] on stopped on bayside road waiting to
[44:21] enter the site
[44:22] and potentially be an issue for a car
[44:24] cresting the hill coming downhill
[44:26] southbound on on bayside road getting
[44:28] that traffic off of bayside road is a
[44:30] safety measure that we're hoping to
[44:32] implement
[44:33] for the safety of bayside road
[44:36] also keeping buses off of bayside road
[44:39] and having them enter the site as they
[44:40] currently do on
[44:41] old bayside road helps the movement of
[44:44] traffic on bayside road northbound and
[44:46] southbound
[44:47] the bus loop will be reconfigured on the
[44:50] site
[44:50] kind of in its current location but now
[44:53] a little bit deeper into the site so
[44:54] that we can get appropriate turning
[44:56] radiuses
[44:57] radii i apologize and we can now park
[45:00] eight buses nose to tail
[45:01] along the sidewalk directly so kids
[45:04] getting off the bus
[45:05] again will never cross traffic between
[45:07] the bus and walking
[45:10] a significant safety measure in the safe
[45:13] access to the school site
[45:18] um looking at that diagram and where
[45:20] we're really stuck
[45:21] into the site and where the building
[45:23] really has to be really led to that
[45:26] uh difficulty of fitting all of our
[45:28] program
[45:29] in the footprint permitted and that's
[45:31] why we will be asking later this evening
[45:33] for that variance to exceed the 35 feet
[45:36] but it also offered us some
[45:38] opportunities which i'll share with you
[45:41] one was as we surveyed the existing
[45:43] building and we got up on the roof
[45:44] we could we recognized that from a
[45:46] higher vantage point we could actually
[45:48] see the bay
[45:49] uh particularly in the winter when the
[45:50] leaves of the trees are down and
[45:52] likewise we could see into the ecology
[45:54] to the north
[45:55] uh down towards fishing creek and we
[45:57] think from a pedagogical standpoint for
[45:59] a school the way it's so connected to
[46:01] its local environment and ecosystem
[46:03] is a great advantage that beach
[46:05] elementary school will have that no
[46:07] other elementary school could even dream
[46:08] of
[46:09] so really reinforcing the opportunity to
[46:11] take advantage of those natural
[46:13] resources
[46:14] as a as a learning opportunity for our
[46:16] school was very
[46:17] uh great opportunity that our
[46:21] stakeholder advisory group wanted to
[46:23] take take advantage of
[46:24] the other neat thing that came through
[46:26] that process was the lighthouse
[46:28] inspiration and the motif of the
[46:30] lighthouse
[46:30] and that this school could kind of be
[46:32] that beacon on the hill uh once it's
[46:34] it once it's finally built uh in our in
[46:37] the design
[46:38] uh likewise if any one of you have
[46:41] walked this site you know that it
[46:42] continues to climb in elevation as you
[46:44] get from
[46:44] east to west on the site we started 62
[46:48] feet above sea level and end up
[46:49] 72 feet above sea level just over the
[46:52] small distance of our school
[46:54] and as a result our school will be
[46:55] designed to kind of step up with the
[46:57] site
[46:58] that's important also from a massing
[47:00] standpoint in that we're always trying
[47:01] to keep the building as down
[47:03] in and low in the site as possible not
[47:05] to overwhelm uh the adjacent community
[47:07] and i'll show you a little bit more
[47:08] about that later in our presentation
[47:12] uh i know it's not germane to the
[47:15] five and six uh topics of the special
[47:17] exception of variances
[47:19] but i just want to share with you some
[47:20] of our goals and some of what we're
[47:22] trying to accomplish
[47:23] and what the the true goal is to
[47:26] address the learning needs of those uh
[47:29] 570 students at
[47:30] beach elementary school not just for
[47:32] today but for tomorrow
[47:34] so we really talk a lot about what we
[47:36] call 21st century learning
[47:38] and next generation learning and these
[47:40] are learning
[47:41] theories in which we really try to
[47:44] address the learning needs of
[47:45] every student so when i went to school
[47:48] there was a teacher in the front of the
[47:50] room with a chalkboard and that teacher
[47:52] spoke to 35 students all of whom had to
[47:54] pay attention sit straight and sit up
[47:56] straight and watch that teacher we've learned
[48:00] over the years that
[48:01] students don't really learn best in that atmosphere
[48:04] some children learn best by themselves
[48:06] some students learn best when they're
[48:08] moving around
[48:09] some students learn best when they're
[48:10] doing projects some learn in small
[48:13] groups and some learn individually and
[48:15] some
[48:15] learn good well in a long large
[48:18] group of 20-some students so for that
[48:22] the diagrams that you see before you
[48:23] which are the basis and the the theory
[48:26] of the school
[48:26] are really such that the classrooms
[48:28] relate to collaboration spaces where
[48:30] other activities can occur
[48:32] and the collaboration spaces in turn
[48:34] relate to small group learning areas
[48:36] like resource rooms
[48:37] where students who need a acoustically
[48:40] separated space or a quiet space to
[48:42] learn
[48:42] uh do best in a smaller environment than
[48:44] a full-size classroom
[48:46] so really the intent here is to take
[48:48] care of the needs of all chesapeake
[48:49] beach students today and into the future
[48:52] regardless of their learning needs
[48:54] uh but in addition the great opportunity
[48:57] for those collaboration spaces and the
[48:58] classrooms to have those views to have
[49:00] that connection to the ecology
[49:02] to have that connection to the town was
[49:05] really a great advantage uh that we
[49:07] couldn't not
[49:08] take it take uh into accord into the
[49:11] design of our project
[49:14] so with that some of the challenges that
[49:16] our site offered us
[49:17] uh here we see a section north south of
[49:20] our three-story building
[49:22] and where it sits on our site and a
[49:23] number of things i want to point out
[49:25] uh chris did discuss about the four
[49:27] station as well as the steep topography
[49:30] that really pins us in
[49:31] to a very small developable area
[49:34] so you can see that pretty dramatically
[49:36] on the right side here
[49:37] on the left on the west side i mean on
[49:40] the left side of the image
[49:41] we see old bayside road and what i
[49:43] really want to point out is that as
[49:45] old bayside road moves from east to west
[49:47] you can see in the distance on this top
[49:49] right image
[49:50] it rises pretty dramatically in fact it
[49:52] rises faster than our site and our
[49:54] building will
[49:56] and you can see that from old bayside
[49:58] road in many cases our building will be
[50:00] down below old bayside road so it will
[50:03] never
[50:03] sit prouder the finished floor elevation
[50:06] than old bayside road
[50:07] and not really overwhelm the scale of
[50:09] the site so we're trying to keep that
[50:10] three to three story building
[50:12] uh in the appropriate scale of the
[50:14] community likewise some of the adjacent
[50:16] buildings uh the residential buildings
[50:18] do the same
[50:19] so the visual impact of our building is
[50:21] significantly diminished
[50:23] uh despite the the height that we're
[50:25] requesting
[50:26] in addition i talked a little bit about
[50:28] the green buffer zone and you can see
[50:30] where that exists
[50:31] between old bayside road and the school
[50:33] itself and that's that really lovely
[50:35] meandering walkway that that takes you
[50:37] from the east edge of the site to the
[50:38] west edge of the site
[50:40] through the project of course nothing
[50:43] can compete with the height of the water
[50:44] tower which is at the highest point of
[50:46] the site
[50:47] and you can see in scale and comparison
[50:50] of our building to that water tower here
[50:52] but also very importantly in the graphic
[50:55] uh
[50:55] we tried to to put the the building in
[50:59] scale on site three-dimensionally so
[51:01] that you can see how the water tower
[51:02] really does dominate the site
[51:04] the other piece i want to bring up is
[51:06] that when you're on old bayside road
[51:08] if you see the line of the ridge of the
[51:11] adjacent houses across the street
[51:13] because the building is set back further
[51:15] on the site and because the building is
[51:17] set
[51:17] down into the site as much as possible
[51:20] it's not really competing with the
[51:22] height of the ridge in a
[51:23] three-dimensional
[51:24] uh viewpoint so that was very important
[51:26] for us in
[51:27] our design to be good neighbors uh
[51:29] particularly because many of our
[51:31] stakeholder group were community members
[51:33] uh and and and uh people who grew up
[51:37] here again
[51:39] so images here are the the
[51:42] aerial image of the school itself these
[51:45] are the
[51:46] three houses directly across the street
[51:48] they in fact sit
[51:49] higher than our property uh because
[51:51] those at the east end
[51:52] are above uh the topography of our site
[51:56] and hopefully if you recall the site
[51:58] plan uh house two three and four we'll
[52:00] actually be looking out into that
[52:01] parkland
[52:02] uh in the front of the site the other
[52:05] building adjacent neighbor
[52:06] that i want to point out is the daycare
[52:08] center which is to the northeast corner
[52:10] of the site
[52:11] and that's picture image one here on the
[52:13] top left
[52:14] and it's an important image because i
[52:17] want to
[52:18] kind of reiterate how our idea was to
[52:20] put a parkland on bayside road with a
[52:23] school set further back
[52:24] so two things happen in our relationship
[52:27] to that neighbor
[52:28] one is they are significantly uphill
[52:30] from us
[52:31] as a result the ridgeline of that
[52:33] building is actually
[52:34] from a three-dimensional standpoint
[52:36] higher visibly than the bridge line of
[52:38] our building
[52:39] even at its higher height likewise our
[52:42] building is set back
[52:43] and this is a fine balance that we tried
[52:45] to play where
[52:46] we're really trying to demonstrate that there's a beautiful new 21st
[52:50] century school
[52:51] on the site but also to create that
[52:53] green buffer which was so important
[52:55] in our discussions as that front area
[52:57] and the face that we place to the to the
[52:59] community
[53:00] as we develop the site and again i
[53:03] talked about how on old bayside road we
[53:05] have the same idea
[53:06] with the green buffer zone against the
[53:08] existing building as well as the way
[53:10] that
[53:10] the road rises uh a little bit faster
[53:13] than the site rises and our building
[53:14] doesn't sit
[53:16] that much higher than the road in that
[53:18] elevation
[53:20] um we hope to provide additional
[53:22] amenities in addition to the green zone
[53:24] in the park as well
[53:25] and chris mentioned some of the
[53:28] trailhead ideas and how we want to
[53:30] integrate
[53:30] fishing creek trail and we talked about
[53:33] that at the planning commission hearing
[53:35] and since then we've been able to take
[53:37] an opportunity so there's some new
[53:38] information on this slide in front of
[53:40] you
[53:40] to start to explore how we might make
[53:42] those connections uh so i'm sharing that
[53:44] for the first time here
[53:46] but i'll talk about the circulation on
[53:48] site uh in particular
[53:50] i talked already about the the parent
[53:53] drop-off and the parking loop
[53:56] and how that is brought off of bayside
[53:58] road to protect it
[54:00] i talked about the uh bus loop which
[54:03] will now go from three ingresses and
[54:05] egresses to only two so we're gonna take
[54:07] one of those
[54:08] uh throats away we're going to create
[54:11] appropriate turning radii
[54:12] and and visibility for the bus loop but
[54:15] on here also
[54:16] is a diagram showing three three
[54:20] levels of pedestrian
[54:24] circulation on the site one is the most
[54:26] formal
[54:27] which is a series of 10 foot wide
[54:29] sidewalks which take you directly in
[54:31] very straight lines
[54:32] from the bus or the parent drop off
[54:34] directly to the front door
[54:36] so that's a very clear formal
[54:37] distinction to make sure that those kids
[54:39] are able to move in and out
[54:41] of their circulation sequence
[54:43] appropriately the second
[54:45] is a series of five foot sidewalks which
[54:48] are a little bit more playful and
[54:49] meandering
[54:50] and they're intended to create to
[54:52] connect to both the safe routes to
[54:54] school system
[54:55] to be part of the uh bicycle circulation
[54:58] path that is ultimately envisioned for
[54:59] the plan
[55:00] of the town and it's a little bit more
[55:03] uh
[55:04] meandering through the site to
[55:05] differentiate itself from that more
[55:07] formal
[55:07] walkway and we also talk about a even
[55:10] less a third level down
[55:12] of of walkway pathways which is more of
[55:14] a nature trail kind of pathway
[55:17] identified in these dots here and what's
[55:20] new in the diagram here
[55:21] is we started to envision how we might
[55:24] now connect our school
[55:26] to that fishing creek trailway that will
[55:29] one day connect us all together and we
[55:32] identify two different variants of that
[55:34] connection
[55:35] one is we'd like to take advantage of
[55:37] that trailhead
[55:38] in our learning environment so in this
[55:41] location where it's directly adjacent to
[55:43] our front plaza and learning and outdoor
[55:45] learning
[55:45] environment we'd like to develop that
[55:47] trailhead as an outdoor classroom
[55:49] and a classroom in which students can
[55:51] learn about
[55:52] stormwater management and how it affects
[55:54] the bay and how it affects their local
[55:56] ecology
[55:57] also perhaps learn about what they're
[55:59] going to see as they walk down that
[56:01] trail and enjoy
[56:02] the experience and learn about their
[56:05] direct ecology and environment so
[56:06] creating that outdoor classroom
[56:08] becomes part of our pedagogy as well as
[56:11] part of our trail head connection
[56:14] at the other end of our trail we'd like
[56:15] to look at some sort of marker
[56:18] whether it be a trail rules or something
[56:20] playful or a sensory trail or something
[56:22] that identifies that you are now
[56:24] entering that walkway down to uh fishing
[56:27] creek and what you might learn
[56:29] along the way as you take that walk
[56:31] whether you're part of our school
[56:33] or just a community member who's taking
[56:34] that walk and connecting the two pieces
[56:36] so we're just now beginning to explore
[56:38] how we might connect that in
[56:40] a more friendly or pedestrian way this
[56:43] school itself will also provide
[56:45] additional amenity to the town in
[56:48] addition to being a great school
[56:49] environment
[56:50] if you know the teachers and the
[56:51] principal and and the folks who
[56:55] are so passionately involved in this
[56:56] school you know the great service they
[56:58] already provide
[56:59] to their students in addition we want to
[57:02] provide
[57:02] a public function to the building itself
[57:04] as well
[57:05] and the gym is being designed to be
[57:07] oversized to accommodate community use
[57:10] in the gymnasium you can see in this top
[57:13] right diagram the size of the existing
[57:15] gym
[57:15] and the size of the new gym which will
[57:17] be a full sized
[57:18] basketball court gym accommodated there will also be a community office
[57:25] and a community
[57:26] storage room to support any community
[57:28] functions that occur within that gym
[57:30] and this public area of the building is
[57:32] designed such that it can be closed off
[57:34] from the existing school so that the the
[57:37] school in the evening is completely
[57:39] secure from what will essentially
[57:40] function as a community center for
[57:42] evening and off-hour use
[57:45] another opportunity that the school has
[57:47] for community use
[57:48] is this cafeteria space whether it's for
[57:51] homeowners association meetings
[57:53] community presentations
[57:54] or performances
[57:57] it's designed in such a way that the
[57:59] stage addresses the cafeteria in this
[58:01] trapezoidal shape
[58:03] it really works two ways one for a
[58:05] smaller audience
[58:06] in the trapezoid it really provides
[58:08] ideal acoustic
[58:10] ideal view lines for evening use or
[58:13] performances
[58:15] but we're also planning to incorporate a
[58:17] folding partition which will now
[58:18] open that up to the gymnasium allowing
[58:21] for extremely large much larger group
[58:23] activities so whether it's a holiday
[58:26] concert
[58:26] or a a rented out
[58:30] or or borrowed out for public use for a performance or an event
[58:34] this we hope that this will become a
[58:36] great venue and community amenity
[58:38] uh much beyond just the school's use of
[58:41] the of the facility
[58:44] uh imbalancing our project with the
[58:46] environment
[58:47] is a critical focal point of our project
[58:49] as well
[58:50] our project will be built to a lead
[58:52] silver standard
[58:54] when completed and seen here just some
[58:56] of the
[58:57] implementation that you'll see from the
[58:59] outside of the building
[59:00] of how we're starting to address those
[59:02] components
[59:03] one is our solar orientation uh being
[59:06] east to west we get ideal
[59:08] solar orientation we we have one broad
[59:10] south face and one broad north face so
[59:12] we can control
[59:13] solar heat gain and lighting but the
[59:15] other nice thing about
[59:17] identifying our building in this uh
[59:19] arrangement
[59:20] is that the shadow lines with with our
[59:22] building facing east west are all onto
[59:24] our site
[59:25] a lot of times when a building is built
[59:27] the shadow it casts on its neighbors
[59:29] can be an issue uh for for impact to the
[59:33] neighbors
[59:34] uh being that that our neighbors are
[59:36] mostly to the south of us we really have
[59:38] no opportunity to cast a shadow on any
[59:40] of them
[59:41] also the stormwater management which is
[59:43] the concept is currently in
[59:44] for how we're addressing that across the
[59:47] site is not only something that we can
[59:48] make a very beautiful amenity across the
[59:51] site
[59:51] we also anticipate using it as you see
[59:53] here in our bottom left image
[59:55] as part of our learning environment and
[59:57] really
[59:59] conveying the idea of my environmental
[1:00:01] stewardship to our students
[1:00:03] uh particularly when they get to see the
[1:00:06] result of that stewardship directly on
[1:00:07] their local environment
[1:00:09] is was a really strong uh discussion
[1:00:12] point among our stakeholder group
[1:00:14] in the elevations we also took
[1:00:16] significant measures to
[1:00:18] make sure that our project is consistent
[1:00:20] with the architecture and ideals of the
[1:00:23] region and the town but also break the
[1:00:25] scale down of the building
[1:00:27] understanding that we're in a medium
[1:00:29] density residential zone
[1:00:30] we take a number of architectural moves
[1:00:32] to break the massing of our building
[1:00:34] down
[1:00:35] majority of our building the east side
[1:00:37] and the west side will not be
[1:00:39] above the 35 foot minimum but despite
[1:00:42] that
[1:00:43] understanding that we're putting a
[1:00:44] school in a community we took measures
[1:00:46] to break down the building by
[1:00:48] changing the facades and planes so that
[1:00:50] we get shadow lines
[1:00:51] and break down the massing change of
[1:00:53] materials to break down that massing as
[1:00:55] well
[1:00:56] we also implement a design strategy that
[1:00:59] we call local symmetry
[1:01:00] so rather but and what that means is
[1:01:02] rather than designing
[1:01:04] a building where all the windows are
[1:01:06] equally spaced across the entire facade
[1:01:08] that would make this entire facade feel
[1:01:10] like one big piece
[1:01:12] by designing windows and in groupings so
[1:01:14] that they're
[1:01:15] in smaller groupings that you identify
[1:01:17] as separate little pieces
[1:01:19] that is what we refer to as a local
[1:01:21] symmetry and starts to break that facade
[1:01:24] down even further so our idea is to
[1:01:26] really
[1:01:27] articulate the building to make the
[1:01:29] scale of the building consistent with
[1:01:30] the scale of the community it's in
[1:01:33] uh from a design standpoint that then
[1:01:35] starts to
[1:01:36] migrate into the materiality of the
[1:01:38] building and how that building looks and
[1:01:40] addresses
[1:01:41] both the community as well as you know
[1:01:43] present the appropriate front
[1:01:45] uh to people arriving at the school
[1:01:48] and understanding that this is a
[1:01:50] state-of-the-art
[1:01:52] 21st century learning environment and
[1:01:54] i'll give you just a little insight on
[1:01:56] two different options that we're playing
[1:01:58] with right now in that materiality
[1:02:01] one is what we call our landscape
[1:02:02] palette it's one that
[1:02:04] looks to have our building meld into the
[1:02:06] landscape a little bit
[1:02:08] very and not contrast with the landscape
[1:02:10] so natural materials between the
[1:02:12] masonry's and the and the woods and
[1:02:14] the metal uh roofing perhaps or stone
[1:02:17] and and wood pallets are really what
[1:02:20] we're trying to look at
[1:02:21] in the landscape palette and likewise we
[1:02:24] are looking
[1:02:24] at another palette that we're calling
[1:02:26] the lighthouse palette and this is one
[1:02:28] that
[1:02:28] starts to employ the the nautical
[1:02:32] vernacular
[1:02:32] that is so consistent throughout the
[1:02:34] downtown of chesapeake beach
[1:02:36] in our architectural as well both in the massing and the shape of our
[1:02:40] building but also in the materiality
[1:02:42] with the standing seams the vertical uh
[1:02:45] lines through the building that that
[1:02:46] connotate that vertical uh siding
[1:02:49] components
[1:02:50] so a lot is going into developing our
[1:02:52] design in such a way that it is
[1:02:54] consistent with the architecture
[1:02:56] and the feel of the of the community
[1:02:59] um so with that i'm going to end the
[1:03:02] kind of the formal presentation
[1:03:04] since we are looking at the special
[1:03:05] exception first i'll conclude
[1:03:08] this part with just how we address the
[1:03:10] six requirements of the special
[1:03:12] exception
[1:03:13] um one is that i believe we believe that
[1:03:16] as the applicant that the project will
[1:03:18] not be detrimental or endangered to the
[1:03:20] public
[1:03:21] uh hopefully i was able to convey how
[1:03:23] far we went to really
[1:03:25] articulate the the safety on site and
[1:03:28] the safety and connections to the
[1:03:30] ultimate safe routes to school project
[1:03:32] uh our design is striving to be
[1:03:34] harmonious with the regional and town
[1:03:36] character both in its massing
[1:03:38] its materiality and the way we're
[1:03:40] addressing the site of the town
[1:03:42] of the of our the way we're addressing
[1:03:44] that green space
[1:03:46] uh to the to the town itself uh we we
[1:03:48] don't think we'll be an impedance to the
[1:03:50] development of json properties
[1:03:52] in fact all the adjacent properties are
[1:03:54] already developed
[1:03:56] uh we don't believe also as chris
[1:03:58] indicated that we will have an adverse
[1:04:00] impact to local public facilities in
[1:04:03] fact
[1:04:04] i'm hoping that we will provide a public
[1:04:06] amenity to the community at large
[1:04:09] and great effort was taken to evaluate
[1:04:11] the pedestrian and vehicle traffic
[1:04:13] uh both in immediate implementation and
[1:04:15] how we
[1:04:16] uh articulate that through our site and
[1:04:19] of course to the ultimate
[1:04:20] uh goal with in that 2040 vision once
[1:04:23] the safe routes to school project
[1:04:24] and the interconnected town is developed
[1:04:27] we hope to just literally click in right
[1:04:29] to that plan
[1:04:30] when it's ultimately envisioned and seen
[1:04:33] through
[1:04:34] so also having implemented the goals of
[1:04:36] the town's 2040 vision
[1:04:38] and the fact that this is our always
[1:04:40] been a school and plan to be a school
[1:04:42] we hope that you find that the project
[1:04:44] is consistent with that comprehensive
[1:04:46] plan as well
[1:04:47] uh so in conclusion those are the six
[1:04:50] criteria of the special exception
[1:04:52] which uh we're happy to answer any
[1:04:54] questions and take any comments that you
[1:04:56] may have
[1:04:57] appreciate your time this evening
[1:05:05] are there any questions from the board
[1:05:20] i do have one question uh this is jody
[1:05:22] hunstar um i
[1:05:24] i'm wondering about the word uh existing
[1:05:27] in your plans does does something like
[1:05:29] existing tennis courts mean that it is
[1:05:31] going to be untouched by your uh project
[1:05:35] or is that just a conceptual thing that
[1:05:37] the tennis courts will
[1:05:38] stay in the right place like are you
[1:05:40] planning on making any modifications or
[1:05:42] changes there
[1:05:43] we're not and i think that is maintained
[1:05:45] right now by parks and recs not the
[1:05:47] school system
[1:05:48] so our intention is to leave that in its
[1:05:50] current condition thank you
[1:05:56] mr jacobiak do you have any questions
[1:06:00] of the applicant
[1:06:10] you're muted chris
[1:06:13] i'm sorry and thank you whoever said
[1:06:15] that i appreciate that um
[1:06:19] yes i have one question and i also have
[1:06:21] two
[1:06:22] things i'd like to mention uh first is
[1:06:25] the the applicant referred to rand
[1:06:28] referred to the
[1:06:29] 2040 vision what that
[1:06:33] is is a vision
[1:06:36] statement that the planning commission
[1:06:39] has put together
[1:06:40] as part of the current comprehensive
[1:06:43] planning process
[1:06:45] it reflects what the planning commission
[1:06:47] is is um
[1:06:48] as understood as the um
[1:06:53] the priorities of the town and it's it's
[1:06:55] drafted in a way to encompass
[1:06:57] the results of a series of public
[1:06:59] meetings and a survey that
[1:07:00] the planning commission conducted so
[1:07:03] it's not official yet because it hasn't
[1:07:05] been adopted
[1:07:06] it would be adopted when the new
[1:07:08] comprehensive plan gets adopted
[1:07:10] of course it may change it may be
[1:07:12] refined over time
[1:07:14] and it's a draft right now but to date
[1:07:16] it really does
[1:07:17] accurately reflect where the town uh
[1:07:21] citizens are thinking when they engage
[1:07:24] with the planning commission
[1:07:26] and candidly it's not a huge departure
[1:07:29] from
[1:07:29] the current comprehensive plan so iran
[1:07:32] is spot on and i it does appear that this project does
[1:07:37] really seek to reflect those um
[1:07:40] those elements in that vision
[1:07:44] second the um planning commission met on
[1:07:46] this project
[1:07:47] because the zoning ordinance says that
[1:07:50] the board of appeals
[1:07:51] refers special exceptions to the
[1:07:54] planning commission
[1:07:55] for a recommendation and the planning
[1:07:58] commission
[1:07:59] did review this two weeks ago and they
[1:08:01] did make a recommendation
[1:08:03] and their recommendation was that the
[1:08:05] board of appeals approved
[1:08:07] this special exception um and i'll give
[1:08:11] you the recommendation on the variance
[1:08:13] uh later the last thing i i
[1:08:16] would just ask the applicant and
[1:08:18] specifically ran
[1:08:19] iran could you uh just for the record
[1:08:22] and for the
[1:08:23] board's benefit explain who you are as
[1:08:26] an architect
[1:08:27] what your degree is and uh your
[1:08:30] professional qualifications because i
[1:08:32] think it helps round out the discussion
[1:08:34] and adds a context for your testimony
[1:08:38] certainly so my name is ron ilkovich i i
[1:08:41] represent
[1:08:42] calvary county public schools is my
[1:08:43] client i'm an architect
[1:08:45] my firm is small enamored ilkovich
[1:08:47] architects and i'm principal
[1:08:48] and president of that firm but
[1:08:52] really and i appreciate you bringing
[1:08:53] that up i i represent
[1:08:55] not only the school system but the
[1:08:57] stakeholder advisory group that really
[1:09:00] participated in this process uh because
[1:09:02] it is a collaborative process
[1:09:04] uh certainly what i would dream up in my
[1:09:06] bubble is very different than what gets
[1:09:08] worked out together when we all
[1:09:10] collaborate my personal
[1:09:12] uh cv i i'm
[1:09:15] local to the area i grew up here in
[1:09:17] state of maryland
[1:09:18] montgomery county i went to school at
[1:09:21] the university of maryland for my
[1:09:22] undergrad
[1:09:23] achieved my bachelor's of science last
[1:09:26] century
[1:09:27] and my masters of architecture as well
[1:09:29] from the university of maryland
[1:09:31] in 1998. i've been
[1:09:34] at this position and i've been in this
[1:09:37] firm for 24 years
[1:09:38] this month in my current firm
[1:09:42] and i've been principal of the firm for
[1:09:44] 12 years
[1:09:45] so those are my personal background
[1:09:48] story
[1:09:50] i've been working with calvert county
[1:09:52] public schools
[1:09:53] since 1996 my first project that i did
[1:09:56] with calvary county public schools
[1:09:58] was dow elementary school and i've had
[1:10:00] the great pleasure to work with calvert
[1:10:03] county public schools
[1:10:04] pretty consistently ever since then and
[1:10:06] it's been just a great relationship
[1:10:08] uh and and one that i'm and has produced
[1:10:11] projects
[1:10:12] like dale elementary school like calvert
[1:10:14] high school like the vocational center
[1:10:16] uh that i i consider cornerstones of my
[1:10:20] career and i'm extremely proud of so
[1:10:23] i've long since appreciated working in
[1:10:25] calvert county
[1:10:26] and i also appreciate the seafood to be
[1:10:28] quite honest
[1:10:34] no further questions from me uh
[1:10:38] okay um
[1:10:42] now we'll hear from the public sharon
[1:10:45] has anyone signed up to speak
[1:10:48] on the uh no
[1:10:56] okay uh is there anyone on this call
[1:10:59] that would like to speak on this matter
[1:11:01] and ask questions of the applicant
[1:11:04] and so now is your time
[1:11:07] yes this is mike schissler principal of
[1:11:09] the school i i just want to share as
[1:11:11] ron's alluded to several times
[1:11:13] this has been a multi-year process
[1:11:15] getting to this point and i want to say uh i continue to be amazed
[1:11:20] at what ron and his firm have done
[1:11:23] with the plans and with the ideas that
[1:11:25] they've collected from us
[1:11:27] uh and they continue to uh
[1:11:30] improve on them i mean just tonight he
[1:11:32] shared again with you ideas
[1:11:34] that they took from the planning and
[1:11:35] zoning hearing that we had a few weeks
[1:11:37] ago
[1:11:38] and have incorporated them uh into the concept especially the
[1:11:42] connection to the fishing creek trail
[1:11:45] and i just want to say for for
[1:11:46] everyone's benefit again just uh
[1:11:48] for a point of transparency um when
[1:11:51] mayor wall got the trail um you know the
[1:11:54] idea started with bruce wall and it took
[1:11:56] 10 years to get there
[1:11:57] that we still have a ways to go um the
[1:12:00] school system can
[1:12:01] certainly work what's on its property
[1:12:03] and work on improving a trail
[1:12:06] but uh the the town or the whomever is
[1:12:08] going to follow up with the trail
[1:12:10] is going to have to you know build
[1:12:11] another access across fishing greeks and
[1:12:13] have to build
[1:12:14] um a boardwalk through the marsh or
[1:12:16] around the marsh
[1:12:17] to connect with our school property in
[1:12:19] so those are several steps that um
[1:12:21] have to be done before we do make that
[1:12:23] connection so
[1:12:24] once this the school is finished in the
[1:12:26] summer of 23 doesn't mean that that
[1:12:28] trail connection is going to be finished
[1:12:30] although it would be you know great that
[1:12:32] it's in the pipeline with other efforts from other groups and
[1:12:35] committees so
[1:12:36] but again i want to thank dr spencer and
[1:12:39] all your
[1:12:40] appeal board members tonight and again i
[1:12:43] just want to say that
[1:12:44] ron and company have done a fantastic
[1:12:46] job in our opinion
[1:12:49] thank you thank you
[1:12:56] okay does the applicant have any
[1:12:59] cross-examination of any speaker
[1:13:03] no ma'am if noah
[1:13:06] closed this part of the meeting and now
[1:13:08] we will turn our attention
[1:13:11] uh to the variance let's start again
[1:13:15] with mr
[1:13:16] jacobia
[1:13:21] i can be very brief now because i think
[1:13:24] there's a
[1:13:25] nice presentation already of the
[1:13:26] building um
[1:13:28] but the applicant is requesting a
[1:13:32] 23 foot variance
[1:13:36] to the 35 foot
[1:13:40] maximum height standard in order to make
[1:13:43] the building
[1:13:44] 58 feet tall so um
[1:13:48] currently the zoning ordinance caps
[1:13:49] building height at 35 feet
[1:13:52] in the residential medium density zone
[1:13:55] buildings can exceed 35 feet
[1:13:57] well the roofs can pop out over 35 feet
[1:14:00] but
[1:14:01] essentially it's a 35 foot maximum
[1:14:04] height
[1:14:05] the applicant is proposing a portion of
[1:14:08] the building to
[1:14:09] go 23 feet higher than that so that
[1:14:13] the total maximum height will be 58 feet
[1:14:17] and i believe i've got that right so um
[1:14:19] that's the request um and you remember that uh
[1:14:25] fred sussman the attorney has reviewed
[1:14:27] with you the standards for granting a
[1:14:29] variance
[1:14:31] and the variance standards are
[1:14:33] essentially
[1:14:34] related to the existing site
[1:14:39] and the impact of the variants on adjoining properties so
[1:14:47] what the applicant has to demonstrate is
[1:14:49] that
[1:14:50] there's something unique about this
[1:14:52] property the physical
[1:14:54] aspects of this property that require
[1:14:56] them
[1:14:57] to exceed the maximum height limitation
[1:15:01] you simply can't come to the board of
[1:15:02] appeals and ask for a variance just
[1:15:04] because you want one
[1:15:06] you have to point to a physical
[1:15:08] condition
[1:15:09] that limits your ability to comply with
[1:15:13] the strict
[1:15:14] code right and uh as a zoning
[1:15:16] administrator or
[1:15:18] as the planning commission we have to
[1:15:19] apply the code strictly
[1:15:21] but an applicant come can come to you
[1:15:24] and ask for relief and
[1:15:28] i i go through this because i know most
[1:15:30] of the members right now are relatively
[1:15:31] new
[1:15:32] on the board of appeals and you haven't
[1:15:33] seen many variances
[1:15:35] but the applicant can come to you and
[1:15:37] ask for relief and they have to point to
[1:15:39] something unique about their property
[1:15:41] that suggests
[1:15:42] they can't comply with the standard um
[1:15:45] so i think what i'm doing is shaping the
[1:15:47] testimony that i think ran has to
[1:15:49] provide you
[1:15:50] uh he's gonna probably talk about the size of the lot the
[1:15:53] presence of the existing school the uh
[1:15:57] conditions of the environment like steep
[1:15:59] slopes and wetland buffers and the
[1:16:00] forest buffer
[1:16:02] and and the fact that there's not much
[1:16:03] land left to build on and
[1:16:06] as a result variance is requested so you
[1:16:09] can build it up a little higher and the
[1:16:10] kids can continue to go to school
[1:16:12] which is pretty important um those are
[1:16:14] the essential things
[1:16:16] the last thing is that the applicant has
[1:16:18] to say that
[1:16:21] he would experience a hardship if you
[1:16:24] couldn't get this variance
[1:16:26] and of course you could imagine what a
[1:16:28] hardship might be that the applicant
[1:16:29] would experience the the lot is such
[1:16:31] that
[1:16:32] physical conditions prevent you from
[1:16:34] building uh
[1:16:36] a low building and as a result um
[1:16:40] there's a hardship that's felt in this
[1:16:41] case the hardship may be public
[1:16:44] rather than just simply private in the
[1:16:46] sense that
[1:16:47] uh a school's uh an essential element of
[1:16:50] the community and certainly supported by
[1:16:52] the community and
[1:16:53] while in today's world
[1:16:57] we're all learning from home at some
[1:16:59] point the kids are going to go back to
[1:17:01] school
[1:17:01] and they need a place to study and learn
[1:17:03] in
[1:17:04] and missing that opportunity will
[1:17:07] certainly provide a hardship
[1:17:09] to the residents of chesapeake beach so
[1:17:12] i just summarized quickly the six seven
[1:17:15] standards that the variance
[1:17:17] requires and um and that dr spencer
[1:17:24] concludes my my quick summary unless the
[1:17:27] board members have any questions
[1:17:33] okay if there are
[1:17:37] no more questions
[1:17:41] i will close the discussion
[1:17:46] and the board will go into deliberation
[1:17:48] and decide quote
[1:17:51] madam chair madam chair fred sussman
[1:17:54] the applicant has to make his
[1:17:55] presentation regarding the variance
[1:17:59] thanks so
[1:18:04] i'll i'll in in my uh
[1:18:08] in my discussion on the variance i'll
[1:18:09] simply just address the five
[1:18:11] points that are the points of
[1:18:12] deliberation that were
[1:18:14] presented at the beginning of the
[1:18:16] meeting
[1:18:18] as well as kind of summarized in chris's
[1:18:21] presentation earlier
[1:18:23] one is addressing item one i believe our
[1:18:27] variance is in harmony with its
[1:18:28] surroundings
[1:18:29] uh we hope to improve the public welfare
[1:18:32] in town just with the redevelopment of
[1:18:33] the school but also with the re
[1:18:35] development of the site and we hope we
[1:18:38] were able to demonstrate that
[1:18:40] it's consistent with that town vision
[1:18:42] and the town ideals and the architecture
[1:18:45] of the town
[1:18:47] number two it's the continued use of the
[1:18:49] site of the if
[1:18:51] number two is about the use permitted by
[1:18:54] the zoning
[1:18:55] and with the special exception that we
[1:18:57] were requesting earlier this evening
[1:18:59] that is an acceptable use uh item number
[1:19:02] three
[1:19:03] is the special circumstances and the
[1:19:05] site limitations and i've brought that
[1:19:07] slide again up on the screen
[1:19:08] uh to just reiterate the the limited
[1:19:12] area of the site that's available for
[1:19:14] construction
[1:19:16] between the steep soap the buffer
[1:19:18] setbacks the wetlands
[1:19:20] and the existing school that must be
[1:19:21] retained in operation during our
[1:19:23] construction process
[1:19:25] uh those are the special circumstances
[1:19:27] and the physical limitations of the site
[1:19:30] the hardship of course is at the 35 feet
[1:19:32] which is really
[1:19:34] intended for residential construction
[1:19:36] because this is the medium density
[1:19:38] residential zone
[1:19:39] really doesn't address the needs of a
[1:19:41] multi-story elementary school
[1:19:43] and the footprint that's available for
[1:19:45] us construction
[1:19:47] on because of those site limitations
[1:19:49] really requires us
[1:19:51] to go to a multi-story elementary school
[1:19:53] and particularly in this case to a
[1:19:54] three-story elementary school
[1:19:56] to accommodate the program the hardship
[1:19:59] of course
[1:20:00] is that if we can't build this building
[1:20:02] vertically
[1:20:03] we cannot accommodate the quantity of
[1:20:05] spaces in classrooms and therefore not
[1:20:07] can accommodate the capacity uh
[1:20:10] of that the building requires to serve
[1:20:13] the needs of the population the students in and
[1:20:15] around the town of chesapeake beach
[1:20:18] so that that is really our hardship that
[1:20:20] we can't meet the
[1:20:21] needs so to address item number five we
[1:20:24] hope you find our variance
[1:20:26] requests as reasonable and of course
[1:20:28] necessary to accomplish the goals of our
[1:20:30] project
[1:20:31] so just in summary that's the the
[1:20:33] request that we're making
[1:20:35] uh directly related to the five
[1:20:37] questions
[1:20:38] that we've been asked to answer for that
[1:20:50] this is the second time that i've
[1:20:53] watched this presentation um
[1:20:56] and i'm really very impressed
[1:21:01] but that's a personal note i need to now
[1:21:03] take it back to the board
[1:21:05] and we need to deliberate uh so
[1:21:12] um
[1:21:15] i think that you need to uh see whether
[1:21:18] any of the board members or mr jacobiac
[1:21:20] have any questions uh for the applicant
[1:21:24] and also if there are any members of the
[1:21:26] public who would
[1:21:27] like to speak on this part of the
[1:21:29] application
[1:21:32] okay we'll do
[1:21:36] mr yakubiak do you have any comments
[1:21:44] yes the only one i wanted to mention
[1:21:46] that the planning commission offered a
[1:21:48] recommendation on the variants as well
[1:21:50] even though they they weren't required
[1:21:52] to by the ordinance they did
[1:21:54] recommend approval of the variants they
[1:21:57] made that part of their motion
[1:21:59] when they approved this special when
[1:22:00] they recommended the special exception
[1:22:04] and that's all i have to comment on
[1:22:09] anyone else
[1:22:12] madam chair uh dave ferguson here i
[1:22:15] would
[1:22:16] just like to ask whether any of the
[1:22:19] residents
[1:22:20] in that neighborhood have expressed
[1:22:22] concern about the height
[1:22:37] well um i can take and take a stab at
[1:22:40] that
[1:22:40] i've not heard anything and we haven't
[1:22:42] received any comments
[1:22:44] um in the mail or phone calls at the
[1:22:47] town hall as far as i know
[1:22:49] certainly sharon could uh help answer
[1:22:52] that question too
[1:22:53] but typically i would hear about it um
[1:22:55] and the property has been posted
[1:22:58] extensively so sharon
[1:23:02] yeah no there's been no comment good
[1:23:08] uh this is sushita warner with calvert
[1:23:10] county schools if i may add
[1:23:12] um we made the presentation
[1:23:16] initially to the board of education
[1:23:20] goodness it's probably been a little bit
[1:23:22] over a year ago
[1:23:24] uh when we went about uh embarking on a
[1:23:27] feasibility study
[1:23:29] and we were looking at a variety of
[1:23:31] options
[1:23:32] for beach elementary school and at the
[1:23:35] time
[1:23:36] the three-story option was certainly one
[1:23:39] of the items
[1:23:40] or one of the schemes that was presented
[1:23:44] out in the public and it was covered in
[1:23:46] the local papers a long time
[1:23:48] ago and we have heard nothing but
[1:23:50] positive comments so i just wanted to
[1:23:52] put that out there
[1:23:53] for everybody great
[1:24:01] anyone okay
[1:24:04] um madame chairman this is jan rutkay um
[1:24:07] i have a question regarding
[1:24:10] the vision for the town that includes
[1:24:14] enhanced walkability and i'm impressed with the fact that ran
[1:24:21] has already uh offered up several ideas
[1:24:25] as to how the school property might
[1:24:27] potentially
[1:24:28] connect to what will be a future
[1:24:32] walkway and board wastes and boardwalk
[1:24:35] system
[1:24:37] i think my question might be to chris
[1:24:40] perhaps
[1:24:41] is that since this is important to the
[1:24:44] town
[1:24:45] um is this something ran
[1:24:48] is this something that we have your
[1:24:51] commitment
[1:24:52] on doing
[1:24:55] i mean is it actually it seems like it's tentative at this point maybe i'm
[1:25:00] wrong
[1:25:01] about that i mean the sidewalk system
[1:25:04] that we're proposing
[1:25:05] is part of our design
[1:25:08] okay so so depending upon how you
[1:25:12] choose to eventually at some point in
[1:25:16] the future connect the school ground
[1:25:18] uh with uh walkways boardwalks and that
[1:25:21] sort of thing
[1:25:22] you're committed that that will be a
[1:25:23] part of your plan correct so
[1:25:26] a number of components one is the safe
[1:25:29] walks to schools
[1:25:30] project our project connects sidewalks
[1:25:33] to every corner
[1:25:35] um i think chris also highlighted his
[1:25:38] report how we're also planning
[1:25:39] crosswalks
[1:25:40] at the major intersection of bayside and
[1:25:42] old bayside to connect to the
[1:25:44] interconnected town sidewalk system uh
[1:25:47] and the components that i spoke of
[1:25:48] earlier of the connection down to
[1:25:50] fishing creek
[1:25:51] we really want to make that gateway and
[1:25:54] then connect that
[1:25:55] at a future time great okay that was
[1:25:58] uh i'm a member of the walkability
[1:26:00] committee and that was something that
[1:26:02] was of uh tremendous focus and interest so
[1:26:06] good thank you and and jan if i can just
[1:26:10] to build on that point
[1:26:11] um it would be extremely difficult
[1:26:14] within the scope of
[1:26:15] the school's project and budget to lay
[1:26:18] out
[1:26:19] the specific alignment for an extension
[1:26:22] to fishing creek trail
[1:26:24] at this point and being involved
[1:26:29] 15 years ago in the first trail linkage
[1:26:32] that we built
[1:26:34] that process is quite extensive and
[1:26:36] involves the
[1:26:38] many state agencies um and uh
[1:26:41] it will take a lot of time and uh the
[1:26:43] town needs to know
[1:26:44] where the alignment is going to be where
[1:26:46] we'll enter uh
[1:26:47] this neighborhood if you will before we
[1:26:50] could even ask the school
[1:26:51] uh right but they have indicated to work
[1:26:54] with us and would go back to planning
[1:26:56] commission we'll have a firmer idea
[1:26:57] about
[1:26:58] roughly where those connections were
[1:27:00] going to be and we even heard from the
[1:27:01] principal tonight
[1:27:03] um about the general support for the
[1:27:06] interconnection here and that's that's
[1:27:08] so uh gratifying
[1:27:10] and uh it's nice to see this long-term
[1:27:12] plan coming to fruition
[1:27:13] slowly but surely over time
[1:27:17] thank you chris uh madam chair if i made
[1:27:20] this is fred sussman again
[1:27:24] uh i think that we should make sure that
[1:27:27] the applicant
[1:27:28] offered for the record the all the
[1:27:31] application materials and supporting
[1:27:33] documents
[1:27:34] they've been referred to and they've
[1:27:36] been provided to
[1:27:37] the various commission members but i
[1:27:39] think we should have on the record
[1:27:41] uh a request to have those application
[1:27:44] materials made
[1:27:45] a part of the record so uh
[1:27:48] mr ilkovitz if you would make that
[1:27:50] profit
[1:27:53] uh yes absolutely
[1:27:58] sharon
[1:28:00] you're still with us correct
[1:28:08] yes she is i believe she might be muted
[1:28:10] let me just
[1:28:13] no i'm yeah
[1:28:18] yes i'll entered into the record the
[1:28:21] application
[1:28:22] and the supporting document thank you
[1:28:25] sharon
[1:28:27] uh-huh thanks fred
[1:28:32] is there anything else before we
[1:28:35] go into our deliberation
[1:28:46] okay madam chair may i before you go to
[1:28:50] deliberations
[1:28:53] this is fred sussman yes
[1:28:56] okay uh we've uh dealt with a number of
[1:29:00] applications before together
[1:29:02] in uh i don't know if we had any of the
[1:29:04] past year but certainly within
[1:29:06] the past two years and the way we've
[1:29:08] handled them
[1:29:09] is that the board what it deliberates
[1:29:12] uh may come to a tentative decision
[1:29:16] and makes a motion directing or
[1:29:19] requesting
[1:29:20] me as the board's attorney to prepare a
[1:29:23] resolution
[1:29:24] uh to reflect the board decision i
[1:29:27] do that and it comes back to you as a
[1:29:30] board
[1:29:31] for uh review and final approval
[1:29:34] so i would recommend that whatever way
[1:29:37] the board ultimately decides to want to
[1:29:39] go on
[1:29:39] these two applications then we follow
[1:29:41] the same process
[1:29:43] that the motion be that the attorney be
[1:29:46] directed or requested
[1:29:47] to prepare a resolution to do x y and z
[1:29:57] thank you
[1:30:08] can i hear the board's opinion
[1:30:12] this is the way that we've been doing it
[1:30:14] and i recommend that we do now
[1:30:16] but i'd like to hear from the board
[1:30:19] because we have new members on now
[1:30:29] board members dave ferguson here i agree
[1:30:33] with
[1:30:34] the process but in the past we've had to
[1:30:37] meet in purple
[1:30:38] in person uh i would recommend that we
[1:30:41] instead do another virtual meeting or
[1:30:45] telephone conference to discuss
[1:30:48] your resolution
[1:30:51] and and then we could each
[1:30:54] come by town hall individually and sign
[1:30:58] it
[1:31:00] i don't have any problem with that but
[1:31:02] on the board
[1:31:04] uh have to consider the resolution
[1:31:07] in a uh in a public meeting and
[1:31:11] it could certainly be a virtual meeting
[1:31:13] as we're doing here today
[1:31:15] or it could be a meeting done by
[1:31:16] teleconference as long as proper notice
[1:31:19] is given
[1:31:20] uh so i don't have any uh issue with
[1:31:22] what you're
[1:31:23] suggesting uh but we were doing this uh
[1:31:25] a year or two ago
[1:31:26] there was no need for virtual meetings
[1:31:28] we were actually meeting in person
[1:31:31] so in today's environment certainly for
[1:31:33] the foreseeable future
[1:31:35] i think business is going to continue to
[1:31:37] be conducted
[1:31:38] the way we're doing it today no
[1:31:41] go ahead go ahead and eat
[1:31:45] well well i think what we need to agree
[1:31:48] to
[1:31:48] hear um
[1:31:50] [Music]
[1:31:52] is the resolution is preparation of the
[1:31:55] resolution
[1:31:57] um and we can talk later about how
[1:32:02] um we follow up with what has to be done
[1:32:06] what's your opinion on the resolution
[1:32:08] again i'm in agreement with david
[1:32:14] out well with fred sorry
[1:32:21] to have fred our attorney prepare
[1:32:25] a resolution and then we
[1:32:28] decide how we will sign it
[1:32:32] given today's environment
[1:32:38] each of us went to the
[1:32:43] town hall to sign
[1:32:46] uh that would be an issue how do we
[1:32:51] handle that
[1:32:56] yes i could always do a docusign
[1:33:01] um and send it to each one assigned that
[1:33:05] way
[1:33:06] okay which i have done
[1:33:11] in this covet uh
[1:33:14] us being home and doing meetings
[1:33:17] virtually
[1:33:18] through the council i have done through
[1:33:21] the docusign for them to sign
[1:33:24] documents
[1:33:27] dr spencer i like that idea because uh
[1:33:30] it may reduce the time it takes to get
[1:33:33] this
[1:33:34] decision official uh and anything we can
[1:33:36] do
[1:33:37] uh to give the school board clear
[1:33:39] direction on what your decision is
[1:33:42] um as quickly as possible would be
[1:33:45] i'm certainly preferred by everybody
[1:33:48] involved
[1:33:50] so if it means expediting the opinion
[1:33:53] the resolution and the signing let's see
[1:33:56] what we can do because i know the
[1:33:57] applicants want to get in front of the
[1:33:59] planning commission soon for
[1:34:00] a site plan review and you know that
[1:34:03] process
[1:34:04] is another step uh that has to take
[1:34:08] place
[1:34:10] thank you okay
[1:34:27] is there anything else before we do
[1:34:30] you know i'm i'm i'm hesitating here now
[1:34:34] um
[1:34:37] fred what are we looking at in terms of
[1:34:40] time
[1:34:42] uh probably uh two weeks
[1:34:48] yeah perhaps a little bit sooner but
[1:34:51] this is going to be a
[1:34:53] relative a little bit more detailed
[1:34:55] resolution
[1:34:56] and i do have other uh commitments and
[1:34:58] priorities to other clients
[1:35:00] so i understand that there's a little
[1:35:02] bit of urgency and i'll do what i can
[1:35:05] uh but you know if you're saying you
[1:35:07] know uh what's
[1:35:08] uh the timetable i would say uh i would
[1:35:11] get done within two weeks
[1:35:13] and sooner if possible
[1:35:17] mr sussman dave ferguson here did i
[1:35:20] understand
[1:35:21] you that we need to have a public
[1:35:24] meeting to approve the resolution
[1:35:28] and sign it yes uh not to sign it but at
[1:35:30] least
[1:35:31] uh improvement to prove it
[1:35:35] it's business of the uh commission of
[1:35:38] the upside
[1:35:39] of the board yeah if we have to have a
[1:35:42] public meeting
[1:35:43] we have to advertise it what is it
[1:35:45] sharing three weeks
[1:35:47] prior uh
[1:35:51] no um two weeks would be sufficient
[1:35:54] two weeks okay so perhaps after our
[1:35:57] deliberate
[1:35:58] deliberations we could uh you know
[1:36:02] go ahead and uh set a date for the next
[1:36:06] meeting
[1:36:06] uh if mr sussman thinks he can you know
[1:36:09] have it prepared by then and
[1:36:12] you could go ahead and advertise the
[1:36:14] meeting
[1:36:15] so that that clock is running
[1:36:20] makes sense
[1:36:24] uh this is suchita warner may i ask a
[1:36:26] question
[1:36:27] uh i just wanted to find out
[1:36:31] in terms of the time frame uh and chris
[1:36:34] please jump in if you would
[1:36:36] uh in terms of the next planning
[1:36:38] commission meeting
[1:36:39] certainly we're anxious to be able to
[1:36:43] make our next presentation which i
[1:36:44] believe is sometime in september is the
[1:36:46] next planning commission meeting
[1:36:48] uh and then we also have a clock that
[1:36:52] we're trying to move towards
[1:36:54] in terms of design development and with
[1:36:56] the state
[1:36:57] um you know as far as submission and starting the design development
[1:37:02] process
[1:37:03] so i guess my question is
[1:37:06] uh is that um the resolution
[1:37:10] the process of the resolution is that
[1:37:12] set in stone or is there any way
[1:37:15] to be able to take up um
[1:37:18] the motion and uh accept the the variance and the special exception
[1:37:23] tonight just trying to
[1:37:25] the voice and the voice rules require
[1:37:28] that there be a written resolution
[1:37:30] and they contain findings of facts and
[1:37:32] conclusions of law yeah just as this is
[1:37:35] an administrative hearing
[1:37:36] administrative process so uh at least
[1:37:40] you will know uh tonight presumably
[1:37:43] if the board has directed me to prepare
[1:37:46] a resolution
[1:37:47] to approve the special exception and or
[1:37:49] variant or
[1:37:50] to deny it at least you'll know that
[1:37:53] and the next planning commission meeting
[1:37:55] is september 23rd
[1:37:58] and um
[1:38:02] there's you know we like to have the
[1:38:04] agenda set
[1:38:06] a couple weeks in advance uh we could
[1:38:09] certainly place this on the agenda for
[1:38:11] site plan review
[1:38:12] and obviously there's a risk there that
[1:38:15] something
[1:38:17] could conceivably happen in the
[1:38:18] resolution not be signed
[1:38:20] but i would expect that this resolution
[1:38:23] would be signed
[1:38:24] by the 23rd of september
[1:38:30] thank you i actually should say
[1:38:32] factually
[1:38:33] to be fashionably correct the next
[1:38:35] meeting is is august 26th
[1:38:38] but you're not going to make that agenda
[1:38:40] obviously that's next week
[1:38:42] um but uh the the next meeting where we
[1:38:45] can actually have this on the agenda
[1:38:46] this
[1:38:47] is the 23rd of september
[1:39:00] if the board
[1:39:06] votes to to approve
[1:39:12] then directs
[1:39:15] you fred to do the resolution
[1:39:19] is that acceptable yes that's uh
[1:39:22] essentially i thought that's what we
[1:39:23] were talking about yeah because i i
[1:39:26] think i i
[1:39:30] you know i think that's where we are
[1:39:40] uh i'd like to hear from from the board
[1:39:44] you know um
[1:39:54] before i make my comments i'd like to
[1:39:57] hear
[1:39:57] from the board i'd like for us to really
[1:40:03] make our decision uh that's
[1:40:06] what i had hoped to do tonight
[1:40:14] and i think we need to uh
[1:40:17] we need to do that so
[1:40:20] moving forward special exception
[1:40:27] uh jody hunsar here um the reasons given
[1:40:30] seem to fit with the requirements and i
[1:40:33] support moving forward with the special
[1:40:35] exemption
[1:40:43] dan i agree
[1:40:46] i think they they meet the requirements
[1:40:49] and i think it's a great looking plan i
[1:40:52] think it makes sense in every way
[1:40:55] david i agree
[1:40:58] uh we have a recommendation from the planning and zoning commission that
[1:41:06] it be approved
[1:41:07] and uh i think the uh
[1:41:11] stakeholders support it and
[1:41:16] ron has made a great uh presentation
[1:41:20] so i'm i'm in full agreement
[1:41:26] jody
[1:41:29] yes in agreement
[1:41:35] okay um
[1:41:38] that special looks
[1:41:43] moving now to the variance
[1:41:47] madam chair
[1:41:50] do you are we gonna formally vote or are
[1:41:53] we just discussing right now
[1:41:55] yeah we're discussing that we're
[1:41:57] following your recommendation okay i see
[1:42:04] are we i do have a question dars are we
[1:42:07] is the public still with us are we in
[1:42:10] this meeting by ourselves or
[1:42:13] just out of curiosity
[1:42:19] yes i i can tell you there's 25
[1:42:21] participants to the call
[1:42:22] um and unmuted unless they've muted
[1:42:25] themselves
[1:42:26] okay
[1:42:34] dan was that a an issue no i just wasn't i haven't done this
[1:42:40] before so i wasn't sure
[1:42:41] what at what stage we were i guess
[1:42:44] that's what i'm saying whether it was
[1:42:45] our
[1:42:46] meeting together to just make the
[1:42:48] decision or or what
[1:42:52] okay we've gone through the again
[1:42:54] special exception what about the
[1:42:56] variance
[1:42:58] uh jody hunsar speaking again it seems
[1:43:00] that all conditions are
[1:43:02] satisfied um i i believe it's in the
[1:43:04] interest of the board to vote this
[1:43:08] forward
[1:43:10] david ferguson here i agree
[1:43:14] i believe it should be approved
[1:43:18] and this is jan rutkay and i i concur
[1:43:27] okay with with that uh
[1:43:31] is fred still with us yes i am mountain
[1:43:34] chair
[1:43:36] um
[1:43:41] based on
[1:43:44] the feelings of the award
[1:43:51] i'm requesting that you prepare
[1:43:53] [Music]
[1:43:54] a resolution madam chair i think you
[1:43:58] need to take a formal vote of the board
[1:44:01] and i would suggest that you entertain a
[1:44:03] motion
[1:44:04] from a member of the board to direct
[1:44:07] the attorney to prepare a resolution
[1:44:11] that uh grants these requested special
[1:44:15] exception
[1:44:16] and the requested variance
[1:44:20] all right we'll do the formal vote um
[1:44:22] [Music]
[1:44:24] as you're indicated about
[1:44:32] the first vote would be on these
[1:44:36] special exceptions
[1:44:46] jam i vote yes
[1:44:50] to approve david ferguson
[1:44:55] i vote yes approve
[1:45:00] jody holmster yes
[1:45:16] and that motion included uh specif
[1:45:19] specifying that uh
[1:45:21] fred sussman would write the opinion a
[1:45:23] resolution right
[1:45:25] just for the record make it clear yes
[1:45:28] okay uh
[1:45:42] variant
[1:45:45] i vote to approve
[1:45:49] david ferguson i vote to approve
[1:45:57] jody i vote to approve
[1:46:10] okay
[1:46:18] fred what do we need from you now or to
[1:46:20] give you
[1:46:22] nothing madam chair i've been here i've
[1:46:24] read all the materials i
[1:46:26] have them and i have on my note from
[1:46:28] tonight's hearing
[1:46:29] so i have enough uh to prepare a
[1:46:32] uh resolution for you madam chair did
[1:46:36] you vote
[1:46:36] on either of the two motions no
[1:46:40] okay
[1:46:45] so i think that would conclude uh the
[1:46:48] business of the board on
[1:46:50] the application yeah
[1:47:03] thank you very much for your time and
[1:47:05] your evening appreciate everybody's
[1:47:07] attention
[1:47:08] and care for the project well thank you
[1:47:11] i mean i can't you know
[1:47:12] you all done a wonderful job
[1:47:17] thank you all thank you for taking the
[1:47:19] time to hear our presentation
[1:47:21] we're excited about the project
[1:47:25] it's an exciting project
[1:47:30] thank you dr spencer thank you holly
[1:47:32] thank you all the board members
[1:47:34] appreciate your time and effort you're
[1:47:36] welcome
[1:47:40] the meeting is adjourned
[1:47:48] thank you