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Committee approves Academy of Excellence conditional use with traffic study and directed-traffic condition
Summary
The Economic Development Committee granted a conditional-use permit for Academy of Excellence to open at 6021 W. Lincoln Avenue and 2307-53 S. 60th St., requiring the applicant to complete a traffic study and implement a directed traffic plan reviewed by city engineering.
The Economic Development Committee approved a conditional-use permit for Academy of Excellence to operate a proposed school at 6021 West Lincoln Avenue and nearby parcels, subject to an amendment requiring a traffic study and a directed-traffic plan to limit mid-block crossings on Sixtieth Street.
During a public hearing, the applicant was represented by attorney Mike Dean; Randy Melchert, the school’s founder and administrator, also spoke. Committee members raised traffic-safety concerns for the Sixtieth and Lincoln intersection and asked whether a traffic study had been completed. Melchert told the committee that the proportion of students who are bused would “stay the same.”
Engineering staff said they had reviewed the site plan and noted access points, bus staging and pedestrian circulation but had not previously required a full traffic study. The committee amended the motion to require the applicant to provide a traffic study—typically a developer-hired consultant conducting AM and PM peak-hour counts and trip-generation analysis—and to develop a plan for directed traffic flow. The amendment specified right-in/right-out access on Sixtieth Street to avoid mid-block crossings and directed engineering and city counsel to review the traffic study and approve the final plan as part of permit clearance.
Committee members discussed site conditions and building suitability. The applicant said the building previously housed a school and that the portion proposed for Academy use contains larger rooms and higher ceilings appropriate for older students; he also said the gym would be used for physical education and limited in-school activities and would not host evening tournaments or large spectator events. The school expects to contract transportation; staff said buses would stage, pick up and depart rather than remain parked on site.
The committee approved the conditional-use permit as amended by voice vote. The amendment requires the applicant to complete the traffic study and satisfy engineering and counsel review before final permitting; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.
