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Planning commission approves off-street parking plan for Pleasant Valley Elementary
Summary
The commission approved a school off-street parking plan for Pleasant Valley Elementary that uses the Virginia Department of Education guideline (one space per employee plus 10% visitor spaces) rather than the Rockingham County standard; staff set the site minimum based on the school’s projected staffing increases.
The Harrisonburg Planning Commission on June 11 approved an off-street parking plan for Pleasant Valley Elementary School, adopting staff’s recommended parking guideline based on the Virginia Department of Education’s "Guidelines for School Facilities in Virginia" rather than the Rockingham County formula.
Staff explained the elementary school (a Rockingham County Public School located within city limits by virtue of annexation in 1983) proposes an addition that would increase enrollment from 376 students and the existing staff count (previously stated at 50) to roughly 500 students and an estimated 60–67 staff members. Using the VDOE guideline (adequate parking for staff plus 10–20% additional visitor spaces), staff said the site needs about 67 staff spaces plus 7–14 visitor spaces (a range of 74–81 spaces). Staff recommended the commission adopt the lower end of that range and treat the guideline as the controlling standard for the city review.
Ryan Bosar of Valley Engineering, representing Rockingham County Public Schools, said the plan submitted shows the maximum number of spaces that can fit and the school is pricing options; the final built count may be reduced but the district did not want to return for a new special-use permit. Staff and commissioners corrected a calculation in the staff report that had cited 81 spaces under the county rule; the commission directed that the city follow the VDOE guideline for staff and visitor parking for an elementary school rather than apply the county high-school student-parking formula.
Council Member Dent moved approval of the off-street parking plan conditioned on providing adequate parking for staff plus a minimum ten-percent additional visitor parking (the lower VDOE range); the motion was seconded by Commissioner Porter and passed by roll call. Because the site is a county school within the city (annexed in 1983), this Planning Commission action is the final city review for the parking plan; no further city approvals are required for this item.
Staff emphasized that the submitted layout showed more spaces (a maximum of roughly 144) than the minimum being adopted, and the adopted guideline sets a minimum standard rather than a maximum cap. Commissioners also discussed traffic access: the plan includes an additional entrance from Early Road to help distribute arrivals and drop-off traffic.
