Neighbors split on Children's Paradise school expansion after traffic study; council approves conditional use with traffic controls

The council held a lengthy public hearing on a proposed expansion and campus redevelopment for a locally operating school (referred to in the record as Children’s Paradise / Children’s Learning Paradise). The applicant presented a traffic impact study prepared by Choice Engineering that modeled a conservative enrollment scenario (the study used a 270‑student projection for analysis) and estimated roughly 227 additional AM trips in the most conservative projection; the consultants proposed operational mitigations including three on‑site drop‑off stations, right‑turn-only entry during arrival, trained school personnel directing traffic, cones to prevent left‑turn entry, staggered instructional shifts and coordination with the county signal timing.

Neighbors and nearby residents pressed for more binding mitigation: multiple speakers said the surrogate study location and assumptions understate the neighborhood’s constrained two‑lane, stop‑sign street network and requested binding language requiring daily on‑site traffic control. Supporters and alumni emphasized the school’s long‑standing service to special‑needs students and community jobs. Applicant counsel and the architect described site measures — sound‑mitigating walls, elevated playgrounds and a traffic routing plan — and agreed to add specific conditions in a declaration.

Council ultimately approved the conditional use and related zoning with an amended covenant: staggered arrivals/dismissals; required trained security/off‑duty police or certified traffic staff on school days (security first, but police to be called if on‑site queuing backs up onto the public roadway); school zone signage, parent education about not blocking neighbor driveways, parking lot locked after hours, limits on nighttime events (three per year ending by 8:30 p.m.), and an agreed reevaluation of traffic impacts after the first year at agreed capacity. The council asked staff to incorporate the agreed conditions into the formal declaration and send the revised covenant to Planning & Zoning and the law department for verification.