Rexburg council approves Gym Prep charter school permit amid traffic concerns

The Rexburg City Council on June 25 approved a conditional-use permit allowing Genpact’s Gym Prep charter school to build at 301 South Twelfth West, despite concerns from nearby residents about traffic and bridge width.

The school’s chief executive, Jason Branson, told the council his organization is “taking every step that we can within the resources that we have to address, traffic mitigation.” He said the schools are publicly funded and “do not have access to local bond and levy dollars.”

The planning and zoning administrator, Alan Parkinson, said the applicant submitted a site plan showing bus and vehicle circulation and that a traffic impact study had been filed and returned to the applicant for clarification. Parkinson described the proposed circulation: buses would enter from the south, loop through a dedicated drop-off lane and exit to the north; vehicle drop-off would use a double stacking lane the applicant says can hold more than 100 cars.

Residents who live along 12th West pressed elected officials to consider existing congestion during school arrival and dismissal times. Resident Leon Parson, who testified at the meeting, said the corridor already “gets gummed up” during peak school hours and warned the new school would add “more cars” to a road with “two ways out.” Another resident who said she recently paid a Local Improvement District (LID) assessment called for long-term traffic fixes before additional large uses are approved.

Council members and staff repeatedly pointed to the traffic impact study as the item that would require mitigation measures. Public works and planning staff said the study could require the developer to widen the bridge over the canal, install a turn lane, or adjust the canal alignment (putting the canal under culvert or shifting it) so the approach can meet city engineering standards.

Council member comments split on timing and mitigation. One council member said the intersection of 12th West and Main (Highway 33) is the primary bottleneck and urged the city to “pressure state” officials to move that project up the priority list. Another council member said the development will be required to build road improvements tied to the permit and noted long-term growth makes addressing Twelfth West’s capacity inevitable.

Following discussion, the council approved the conditional-use permit. Motion language on the record authorized the Planning and Zoning recommendation to allow a school in a Low Density Residential 1 zone at 301 S. Twelfth West.

The applicant and city staff said they will follow the traffic study’s required improvements before final construction permits are issued. The council did not set a separate timetable for any off-site public road projects such as widening the Main/12th intersection, but members said addressing that intersection is a high priority.

The conditional-use permit approval allows the applicant to proceed to the city’s building and permitting phase, subject to any conditions spelled out in the planning approval.