CITY OF ROCKVILLE PLANNING DIVISION

STAFF REPORT

June 8, 2000

SUBJECT:

REQUEST:

The applicant seeks Use Permit approval for a change-in-use of an existing building from a mix of retail, warehouse and office to a dance studio.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Approval is recommended subject to the following conditions:

1.      That enrollment in the dance school not exceed 110 students;

2.      That the applicant implement the mitigation measures suggested by the Traffic and Transportation Division, if traffic circulation or parking problems arise on the site;

3.      That a one-time TDM (traffic demand management) contribution equal to ten cents per square foot per year for a ten year period be made. 

4.      That funds for a bus shelter near the intersection of East Jefferson Street and Halpine Road be contributed by the applicant.

ANALYSIS:

Site Description: 

This property is located on East Jefferson Street between Congressional Lane and the Woodmont Country Club.  It is made up of a 36,500 square foot lot improved with a building footprint of approximately 19,531 square feet. Three sides of the building are located on the property lines with the building taking up over half of the rectangular lot.  The remaining portion of the lot is covered with the parking lot.

Background: 

The property gained approval for development in 1967.  At that time it was located in the C-2, General Commercial Zone.  Zoning regulations, at that time, allowed for the parking requirement to be calculated on the mix of uses that made up the operation.  Subsequent changes to the Zoning Ordinance, however, changed the parking regulations to require that the retail parking standard be applied to the entire use.

In 1989, the property was rezoned to RPR, Rockville Pike Residential.  Rezoning typically means that the uses within the zone become nonconforming and must terminate if they cease for more than three calendar months.  At one point, this building was vacant for more than three months and thus lost its nonconforming status.  Under RPR zoning, only residential uses would be permitted.  To provide for the continued use of the property as a non-residential use, the owner proposed a Text Amendment, that was subsequently adopted, to provide for the continued use of lawfully existing properties, like this one, by uses permitted in the C-2 Zone immediately prior to the rezoning.

Proposal: 

The applicant proposes to renovate the property and occupy it as a dance school.  Enrollment is planned for one hundred and ten students.  Ten teachers and administrators are proposed to provide lessons and support for the students.  Classes are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. through 8:45 p.m., Monday through Friday.  Throughout the day, the class schedules are staggered in order to prevent more than two classes coming and going at the same time. 

No change is proposed to the footprint of the building or the paved area of the parking lot.  Although the parking lot has been redesigned to include a pick up and drop off area for students, the number of parking spaces remains the same at forty.  Four classrooms are proposed within the building.  Supporting renovations include the installation of an exercise room, a children’s playroom (for the student’s siblings), a library/homework room and dressing rooms.  Exterior renovations are basically limited to the main entrance, off of the parking lot.  The plans do, however, include an overall design scheme for the building that is intended to make it more inviting and visible. 

Analysis:

Typically, changes-in-use are handled by staff as a Use Permit Amendment.  Because, however, the parking standard for an educational institution requires that the amount be reasonably determined by the Planning Commission and because this use required a traffic study, this has been brought to the Planning Commission for approval. 

The applicant’s traffic consultant worked with members of the City’s Traffic and Transportation Division to determine what percentage of students are likely to drive, be dropped off, carpool or take mass transit.  Once percentages were agreed upon, the applicant applied the numbers to the class schedule to determine how many spaces would be needed for cars being parked at the school.  The highest class demand was for 34 spaces for students at any one time.  Therefore, with five parking spaces being needed to serve the teachers and administrators, the 40 parking spaces provided are adequate to meet the school’s parking needs.  

To verify that this parking standard was acceptable, an effort was made to determine what the parking requirements are in other jurisdictions.  The problem with trying to compare the standards was that many jurisdictions did not have a standard specifically for dance studios (like the City) and others break down schools by the age of the students.  Staff decided to compare high schools (which is the highest parking standard) and dance studios, where possible.  The high school parking standards range was from one parking space per three students to one parking space for each ten students.  Staff found one jurisdiction that specifically mentioned dance schools, which required one parking space for every 3 students.  Based on all of the above information, it seems that this use reasonably requires about 40 parking spaces.

Traffic Study:

A traffic study was submitted for review by the Traffic and Transportation Division.  A copy of the analysis is attached and basically concludes that the selected intersections operate at less than ninety percent of capacity and are expected to remain at less than ninety percent for the next five years.  There was, however, concern expressed about congestion that may take place both in and around the site that might overwhelm the supplied parking.  As such, the Traffic and Transportation Division recommends the implementation of parking mitigation measures, as follows:

1.      Provide a study area and safe place for students to wait for their rides so that staggering occurs.

2.      Assure that staff and teachers help to load and unload children in the parking lot.

3.      Participate in Transit Incentive Programs.

4.      Provide a bulletin board, electronic or otherwise, to facilitate carpooling.

5.      Encourage carpooling and transit ridership by offering tuition incentives.

6.      Issue a limited number of parking permits for student drivers and give priority to carpools. 

Further, in accordance with current City policies to promote transit, the following Transit Contributions are recommended to be provided by the applicant.

1.      A one-time TDM (traffic demand management) contribution equal to ten cents per square foot per year for a ten year period be made. The exact amount will be determined from the building permit application submitted by the applicant for the tenant layout.  

2.      Funds for a bus shelter near the intersection of East Jefferson Street and Halpine Road.

Staff Recommendation: 

This site was built for a specific use.  As such, sites like these often remain vacant for long periods of time because of inadequate parking, poor location or due to the fact that the structure doesn’t easily accommodate a different use.  This building seems well suited to meet the needs of a dance school.  Staff’s initial concerns about whether the parking is adequate have been satisfactorily resolved. The Traffic and Transportation Division has suggested mitigation measures for traffic congestion on the site, and is requiring contributions for future traffic mitigation as well as the installation of a bus shelter.  Based on the above and subject to the conditions noted on page one, staff recommends approval Use Permit Application USE2000-00610.