Alachua County planning commission recommends special‑use permit for private K–12 school on 39th Avenue

Alachua County planning staff and the applicant told the local planning agency on Dec. 18 that a church‑site on 39th Avenue is suitable for a private K–12 school, and the commission voted to approve the special‑use permit application Z2400009 with staff conditions.

Jerry Bruington, senior planner with the Alachua County Department of Growth Management, told commissioners the application is for a school accessory to an existing religious facility on an 8.6‑acre planned development parcel. "The applicant wishes to establish a K through 12 private school on the property, which would be an accessory use to this religious structure," Bruington said, and staff recommended approval because the request meets the locational criteria in the Comprehensive Plan (future land use policy 5.2.1) and the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC).

Bruington said the school would not exceed 300 students, would use existing church classrooms and a new classroom building on an existing pad, and that staff had proposed six conditions to ensure the use meets level‑of‑service and access standards. He told the commission the property has existing parking and drop‑off stacking space and that the proposed new building is confined to an existing footprint.

Clay Swager of EDA Consultants, representing the applicant, said the site is well suited and largely developed: "There's essentially ... an existing pad that's surrounded by parking lot and sidewalks and the school building would go in that area." Swager added the project’s sewer condition is an upgrade: the school would connect to GRU central sewer rather than remain on septic.

Commissioners asked whether the building would be one or two stories, what hours the school would operate and whether 300 students would materially affect traffic. Bruington and Swager said the applicant prefers one story but could go to two stories; staff noted there is a height limit under the PD and the precise building plans will be reviewed later during site plan review. Regarding hours, Bruington said the staff conditions reflect the private‑school hours in code (the conditions list operating hours that do not exceed code standards). On traffic, Bruington said transportation staff had not submitted objections and that site stacking and existing on‑site parking should accommodate drop‑off and pick‑up with forethought.

One commissioner asked about an emergency secondary access shown on the map; staff said that access is intended for emergency vehicles only.

After questions, a commissioner moved to approve application Z2400009 with staff conditions and another commissioner seconded the motion. The commission approved the application by voice vote; individual roll‑call tallies were not recorded on the public record.

The staff report and the commission’s recommendation tie the approval to six specific conditions in the staff packet (noted in the record) including connection to central sewer, adherence to operating hours, and site‑plan review to address parking and building details. The commission also noted the applicant had not reported attendance at a community meeting listed in the application.

The meeting concluded with routine attendance and scheduling notes; commissioners did not meet in January and expected to reconvene in February.