Petitioner asks to rezone former Johnson School at 1730 Wilkes Ave. for charter school

At the Davenport City Plan and Zone Commission meeting on March 4, petitioner New Plan Learning requested rezoning of the former Johnson School at 1730 Wilkes Avenue, a roughly 2.47-acre city block, from CT (commercial transitional) to R-4C (single-family and two-family central residential) to allow a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade initially, with potential expansion to twelfth grade.

A planning staff member, Matt, summarized the proposal and the site context: the Johnson School was built in 1910, closed in 2002 and is locally listed on Davenport’s historic registry. Matt said the building is privately owned and currently leased to small businesses. He told commissioners the Davenport zoning ordinance identifies primary and secondary educational facilities as a prohibited use in commercial districts and that R-4C zoning would allow educational uses and align with the city’s comprehensive plan.

Phil Corotto, representing New Plan Learning, said the group wants to restore the property to its original use as a school and that the comprehensive plan supports R-4C for the area. “This originally was built as a school, so we wanna bring it back to a school,” Corotto said. He and staff said they do not expect major exterior changes; any needed alterations would be reviewed by the Davenport Historical Society.

Commissioners asked about site history and traffic. Commissioner Garrington asked whether part of the block had been subdivided for housing previously; staff replied that two lots had been subdivided earlier but were not developed. Commissioner Guaranty asked whether parent pickup and drop-off had been addressed; Corotto said the school would rely on parent drop-off and pickup (no bus service initially), that an engineer had prepared development plans, and that the applicant could add an additional entrance if needed.

Staff said property owners within 200 feet were notified and a notice was published in the Quad-City Times; a neighborhood meeting on Feb. 13 drew four members of the public, who raised questions about school operations and traffic. No members of the public spoke for or against the petition at the March 4 hearing.

The commission closed the public hearing and the item will return to the commission for a formal staff recommendation at the March 18 Plan and Zone Commission meeting.