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Immaculate Heart of Mary presents multi-year campus sketch plan; commission raises access and phasing questions
Summary
Immaculate Heart of Mary parish presented a multi-phase sketch plan for a 66-acre campus including an elementary school, field house, priory house and future high school. Commissioners discussed fire access, roadway connectivity, timing, and whether the project should follow a planned-unit (PUD) process; staff will advise next steps.
Representatives of Immaculate Heart of Mary on Thursday presented a multi-phase sketch plan for a 66-acre campus off Holly Street that would include an elementary school, attached field house, priory (residence for clergy), a future boys high school, maintenance facilities and ball fields.
Oliver Warzecca, a parishioner and member of the building committee, said the project will be phased and may begin with the elementary school and attached field house as "phase 1," followed by a multi-purpose building and later high-school facilities. He told the commission the immediate objective is a partial move of students to the new campus by 2027 and emphasized the group's effort to preserve wetlands, steep slopes and mature trees on the site.
Commissioners and staff discussed several recurring issues for a large, phased campus: whether the city will require a public road through the site to connect to property to the south; how to manage long-term maintenance and potential city responsibility if a private road were dedicated later; emergency access and turnarounds; phased installation of fire suppression systems and pump houses; and whether a Planned Unit Development (PUD) would be the appropriate zoning tool for the mixed uses proposed.
Council member Ray Johnson recommended early meetings with the fire marshal and public-works staff to address ingress/egress, fire-suppression phasing and parking. Staff advised the applicants to expect technical review of water, septic and stormwater systems and to coordinate timing for any grading work. Commissioners said they will provide advisory comments and asked staff to outline a recommended path forward, including sequencing for platting, potential lot consolidation and whether a PUD application is appropriate.
No formal action was required for this sketch-plan review, which is advisory; staff will prepare next-step guidance to support the applicant's timeline.
