Planning commission approves revised site plan for Split Log Middle School with traffic condition tightened

The Brentwood Municipal Planning Commission on May 5 voted to approve a revised site plan for the proposed Split Log Middle School, 9714 Split Log Road, with an amended condition that any updated traffic study recommending "significant" on- or off-site improvements would require the site plan to return to the commission.

The revised plan, presented as an update to a 2022 approval whose vesting would expire July 5, 2025, keeps the building size at 183,084 square feet and the previously proposed program: capacity for about 1,000 students, roughly 90 staff members and 54 classrooms. The proposal shows 370 parking spaces and 20 bus spaces and retains the access arrangement that uses the existing entrance serving Jordan Elementary School to the south.

Staff said the revised plan modifies stormwater provisions to comply with current requirements and that the applicant has submitted a Low Impact Development (LID) waiver request; in places where infiltration-based Metro Volume 5 measures are infeasible because of rock, staff indicated the project would rely on extended detention to meet the 80% TSS removal standard. The commission record shows four formal conditions of approval and 17 standard requirements recommended by staff.

Philip Pearson of Catalyst Design Group, representing the applicant, said the revised plan is largely unchanged from the previously approved plan and requested flexibility so minor, on-site refinements would not force the project to return to the commission. "If there's some way the staff could review it and say whether it's a minor change that they could approve or something that needs to come back to y'all, that would be helpful," Pearson said.

Commissioners and staff discussed traffic extensively. The project team reported updated traffic counts were being collected the week of the meeting and that a full updated traffic report would likely be ready in late June. Eric Gardner, identified in the hearing as representing Williams County Schools, told the commission the elementary and middle schools would have staggered bell times—typically about an hour apart—so dismissal and arrival traffic generally do not overlap. Richard Phillips, the project's traffic engineer, said the site layout provides substantial on-site stacking and separates bus circulation from parent drop-off, which should reduce queueing on the public road compared with some existing Brentwood campuses.

Commissioner Crowley moved to approve the revised site plan, with Commissioner Lundgren seconding; members voted to adopt the plan with the clarified traffic condition. Staff said the added word "significant" in condition 1 will be used to judge whether a later traffic-driven change requires returning to the commission.

The applicant also noted two roofing material options—standing seam metal or asphalt shingle—will be selected based on bid pricing and funding availability. The school district indicated the county's five-year capital plan anticipates opening the school in fall 2027.

The commission's action preserved the project's vesting and allowed the applicant to proceed with the next permitting steps while requiring the updated traffic study and agency permits before grading permits are issued. The site plan approval retains the condition that if the updated traffic study identifies significant impacts beyond the presented plan, an updated site plan must come back to the planning commission.