Planning commission approves additions, setback variance for Pine Hill Elementary

The Cottage Grove Planning Commission on Aug. 25 approved a conditional use permit, site plan review and a variance allowing additions at Pine Hill Elementary School, 9015 Hadley Avenue South. The motion to approve passed 5-0.

The project covers two parcels totaling 13.62 acres and would add about 13,300 square feet to the existing building, including a six-classroom wing with a storm shelter area, a small gym addition and a freezer expansion off the kitchen. The applicant is requesting a variance to allow the new classroom addition to sit approximately 38.5 feet from the north property line, encroaching into the 50-foot setback required by city code for buildings abutting a residential district.

City staff said the school was originally built in the 1960s and has been expanded several times; an existing special-education classroom addition built in 1977 already sits about 35.5 feet from the same property line. Staff told the commission the proposed addition would not be closer to the property line than that existing nonconforming portion of the building.

Why it matters: The commission found the variance…