COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AGENCY

Date:

May 1, 2002

Set Time:

9:15 a.m.

Hearing Date:

May 14, 2002

To:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

From:

Marcia Raines, Director of Environmental Services

Subject:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Consideration of an appeal of the Planning Commission's decision to approve a Use Permit to allow the operation of a private, non-profit preparatory school (grades 9-12) for 60 to 70 students, located at 3540 Middlefield Road in the unincorporated Menlo Park area of San Mateo County.

RECOMMENDATION

That the Board of Supervisors deny the appeal, uphold the decision of the Planning Commission, and approve the Use Permit, County File No. PLN 2000-00877, by making the required findings and adopting the recommended conditions of approval as approved by the Planning Commission.

PROPOSAL

The applicant is proposing to operate a private, non-profit preparatory school for approximately 60 students, maximum 70 students, in grades 9-12. The school operates with approximately 18 staff members inclusive of teachers and administrative staff. The school proposes to operate Monday through Thursday between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and on Fridays between 9:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. All access by students for both drop-off and pick-up will occur through the neighboring Saint Anthony's Church driveway. The students will use a small gate located at the rear of the site, between the school and the church parking lot. The existing access driveway on site will be used by faculty and visitors to the site only.

BACKGROUND

The site was originally developed with an office for the Red Cross. It was later sold to the current owner who has used it for his residence and a home business.

The Palo Alto Preparatory School submitted their application for a pre-application public workshop and use permit in December 2000. The workshop was held in January 2001 with notice to property owners within 500 feet. Some attended the workshop, participated and provided their comments to both staff and the applicant. A summary of the comments and responses were sent to owners within 500 feet for their review.

Subsequently, an Initial Study and Negative Declaration were prepared for this project. Copies of that document were mailed to all property owners within 500 feet. No comments were received during the posting period. The Zoning Hearing Officer approved the use permit on August 2, 2001, with modifications to the conditions of approval as follows:

1.

The maximum number of students was decreased to 70 from 75;

2.

The lease with Saint Anthony's for the parking spaces should also include language about using the Saint Anthony's driveway for ingress and egress;

3.

The proposed fence and wall surrounding the site would be a collaboration between property owners and the applicant and only after approval of a fence height exception to allow a fence at 8 feet high, where a maximum of 6 feet is allowed;

4.

A requirement to prepare a trip reduction plan, which identifies efforts to reduce single occupancy automobile trips to the school;

5.

A requirement for the school to designate a community liaison to serve as the contact for all inquiries or complaints;

6.

A requirement for the school to prepare an information packet that includes the circulation plan, trip reduction plan, name of the community liaison and dates of upcoming evening school events; and

7.

A requirement to hold an annual evening meeting with neighbors to discuss compatibility issues.

Subsequently, the decision was appealed to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission, after hearing testimony from the public, denied the appeal and approved the use permit for the private school 3-0 (Commissioners Goff and Silver absent).

The decision of the Planning Commission was then appealed to the Board of Supervisors. The issues contained in the appeal include an objection to the number of students present on the site, concerns regarding the traffic and circulation at the site, construction noise and general concerns regarding expansion of the facility.

Staff believes that the project inherently and as conditioned by the Planning Commission will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to property or improvements in the neighborhood and recommends that the Board of Supervisors uphold the decision of the Planning Commission and approve the use permit for the Palo Alto Preparatory School.