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Planning board conditionally approves Snow White school; imposes temporary 50‑student cap pending parking study
Summary
The board granted a conditional‑use permit to legalize a long‑operating private school and daycare at 2400 West 56th Street but recommended a temporary cap of 50 K‑5 students and required a parking/traffic study before the council considers a second reading to restore the school’s previous capacity.
The Planning & Zoning Board voted Nov. 19 to approve a conditional‑use permit for a private K‑5 school and a 143‑child daycare at 2400 West 56th Street (the school known as Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs Inc.) with conditions intended to address parking and traffic concerns.
Staff told the board the site has operated as a daycare since 1992 and later added K‑5 classes without a CUP; the property currently provides 19 parking spaces and a circular driveway configured for drop‑off stacking. Because the code requires 30 parking spaces for the proposed enrollment, staff recommended reducing the school enrollment from 80 to 50 K‑5 students and reducing staff levels unless the applicant can demonstrate adequate parking through a study.
Applicant counsel accepted the 50‑student cap for the purposes of the board’s recommendation and agreed to complete a parking analysis before the council’s second reading; counsel said the owner will ask the council to restore the previous 80‑student enrollment if a parking management plan supports it. “For purposes of today, we will accept the 50 student max,” the applicant’s representative said.
The board approved the CUP with the staff‑recommended conditions: a reduced enrollment cap for K‑5 at 50 pending the applicant’s parking study, a requirement to obtain change‑of‑use permits within 12 months, and a landscape mitigation payment as determined during site‑plan review.
The applicant said it uses two‑way radios, a mobile app (Bright Wheels) and staggered arrival and dismissal that help manage circulation; staff noted those practices but maintained they are not a substitute for the required parking analysis.
