Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/15/2003 - Special Meeting

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However, the design team recognizes the importance of the views from Ramsey Boulevard and Peridot Street. The school is the first building viewed for those entering the Town Center from Ramsey Boulevard. Likewise, the building's west elevation faces the large public ball fields and the residential district just north of East Rarnsey Pm'kway. Furthermore, students and visitors are going to be predominantly utilizing the southeast and southwest building entrances. The design team chose to express those building entrances with canopies and two-story clear'glass curtainwalls, similar to those expressed on the north elevation. The canopies and curtainwalls will help to define the entry points as well as break the building's long fa,cade into smaller segments. The design team has created a building and site design that follows the Ramsey Town Center Design Guidelines in the following ways: The building has an animated street presence on the north, east and west facades, The building .incorporates varied design elements, has character and expression, The building has a varying scale, proportion and height, and The building utilizes a variety of materials and finishes Site Design and Parking Issues Begilming with the architectural building footprint and the site parameters, the parcel has been designed to accommodate the needs of the charter school and its diverse students and staff. With a capacity of approximately 560 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, the site has b,-zn designed to accommodate multiple modes of transportation. Buses, vehicular drop off and pick up, teachers' and students' cars, bikes and walking traffic have been accounted for ~ith safety` a primary concern. The goal of the circulation system is to provide vehicular access to all sides of the school, which is typical in an urban style setting such as Ramsey Town Center. To safely accommodate this, the bus drop or1' area where a majority of younger children will congregate on the site is separated Ii'om the car drop off lanes, both geographically and ~t¥om the perspective of access. The bus drop off area, located on the east side of the building, will be accessed f'rom the north entrance to the site. Buses will continue around the east side of the building and exit at the southwest comer Of the site to Peridot Street N.W. The car drop off areas are located on the west and northwest sides of the site. The majority of the cars entering the site to drop off or pick up children will access the site via the southwest entrance, continue through the drop off area and exit via the northwest driveway. This circulation pattern essentially separates vehicular traffic from bus traffic during the critical periods of the day. Students walking or biking to school will be served by an integrated-network of sidewalks and crosswalks to provide safe access to three sides of the school. The lack of sidewalk access to the south side of the school is proposed to discourage students from congregating in the area of the dock and trash enclosure. Crosswalks are provided across the west parking lot to provide safe passage to the park west of Peridot Street. It is 31