ZBA approves Sacred Heart School coverage variance amid neighbor concerns about parking and traffic

The Pensacola Zoning Board of Adjustments voted to approve a lot-coverage variance for Sacred Heart Cathedral School at 1603 North 12th Avenue to allow a proposed campus expansion and reconfigured on-street parking.

Philip Partington, the project architect, said the school and parish have occupied the block for more than a century and that the proposed master plan addresses modern classroom-space requirements and campus circulation. ‘‘We’re adding a gym and middle-school classrooms in phase 1 and envision bringing preschool classes onto campus in phase 2,’’ Partington said. He said the current campus predates the 1991 Land Development Code and that prior approvals were measured differently (including rights-of-way) so the site is effectively nonconforming under current measurement rules.

Project representatives told the board they expect to accommodate roughly 80 additional students as part of the expansion, and that the design includes measures to reduce parent vehicles on 12th Avenue: an internal carline reorientation, angled on-street parking intended to calm traffic, and additional staff parking. Staff said an initial ‘‘one-stop’’ review with city departments was receptive to the parking concept but that later permitting steps will include coordination with public works and the parking manager.

Multiple neighbors spoke in opposition or concern. Dawn Barty Boggess and Olivia Weir described long-standing issues during pick-up and events—blocked driveways, cars parked beyond posted limits, missing crosswalks and a history of near-misses. Boggess said the proposed reorientation ‘‘looks like a mall’’ and argued that moving parking into the right-of-way could worsen sight-line problems and pedestrian risk. Partington and Todd Rosenbaum, the parish administrator, said they were willing to meet with neighbors and explore further mitigation such as signalized crosswalks and additional on-street design features.

After discussion about precedent, measurement of coverage, impervious-area tradeoffs and neighborhood impacts, a board member moved to approve the variance. The chair called the vote and announced the motion passed with six votes in favor, one opposed and one recusal. Staff noted the recusal and that the board will record written findings on how the application meets each of the seven Land Development Code criteria.

Board members and staff urged the applicants to continue neighborhood outreach and to coordinate final parking and street-change details with city public works during permitting.