Board approves special exception for ARC Montgomery school at 2130 Bell Road

The Board of Adjustments voted to approve a special exception allowing ARC Montgomery to locate its McGinnis private school at 2130 Bell Road. Ray Scott, executive director of ARC Montgomery, told the board the petitioner completed two follow-up tasks ordered at an earlier hearing: a traffic engineering analysis and outreach to the surrounding homeowners association.

The traffic consultant, Max Vaughn of Gooden Mills and Kaywood, said the analysis showed bus traffic generated by the proposed school would be less than the existing church use on the site. Vaughn said buses would be required to use the entrance as right-in only during peak hours, and to use right-out only, and that “no left turns during the peak hours” would be permitted for buses.

Board members asked about outdoor activities and neighborhood impacts. Scott said there would be no outside sporting activities and no operations after roughly 2:30 p.m.; he also agreed to close a 40–50-foot gap in a rear privacy fence and to maintain the low-level exterior lighting already on the property.

A motion to approve the special exception was made and seconded; the board approved the request. The approval was based on the traffic report, the petitioner’s agreement to the bus routing restrictions and to close the privacy-fence gap, and the petitioner’s representation that hours and outdoor activities would be limited.

The board’s approval applies to the special exception request as presented; any changes to enrollment, hours or traffic operations would require staff review or a return to the board.