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Coppell planning commission approves one-year increase to Saint Constantine School enrollment cap
Summary
The Coppell Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a one-year revision to a special use permit allowing Saint Constantine School to increase its enrollment cap from 100 to 130 students at the Church of the Apostles, following staff presentation of a traffic queuing analysis and an applicant statement that operations have run smoothly.
The Coppell Planning and Zoning Commission on May 21 approved a one-year revision to the special use permit for Saint Constantine School, allowing the private school to increase its maximum enrollment from 100 to 130 students at the Church of the Apostles, 322 South MacArthur Boulevard.
Senior Planner Mary Tom Boswell told commissioners the school began operating in August and currently enrolls 69 students from 32 families. Staff submitted a vehicular queuing and circulation analysis showing an internal maximum stack of 36 vehicles; photographs included in the packet showed typical pick-up lines of about 2–17 cars that dissipated quickly. Boswell said staff is recommending approval of the revision subject to the conditions listed in the staff report, including licensing and compliance with state law.
The applicant, Catherine Clayton, told the commission she expects demand to exceed the existing 100-student cap and that the 16–17-vehicle car line observed in practice moves quickly and has not caused neighborhood complaints. "Everything has gone really well and smoothly," Clayton said, and she said staggered start and end times compared with nearby schools further reduce conflicts.
Commissioners questioned whether the commission should write a condition requiring the school's split schedule (some students attend Monday/Wednesday/Friday and others Tuesday/Thursday) to limit peak arrival volumes, versus crafting traffic-based language that triggers review only if queuing spills into the public right-of-way. Commissioners and staff discussed accreditation and state oversight of class schedules, how a split schedule is implemented, and whether a city condition would be enforceable or necessary given observed operations.
Staff told the commission the current program uses a split attendance pattern (66 students attend M/W/F, 39 attend T/Th, plus a small number of ala carte students), and noted drop-off begins at 7:30 a.m., classes run from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the school is exploring aftercare that could extend pickup to about 5 p.m. The staff report noted that mailed notice for the zoning change went to surrounding properties (14 notices within 200 feet and 146 within 800 feet) and that staff had received no written responses.
No members of the public spoke during the reopened public hearing. Vice Chair Sue Blankenship moved to close the hearing, and the commission voted to close it. A subsequent motion to approve the special use permit revision (case SDash1113R3DashSFDash7 as presented in the meeting packet) was moved by a commissioner and seconded by Vice Chair Blankenship. The commission approved the one-year increase in enrollment capacity by unanimous roll call votes: Commissioner Sameet Patel — aye; Vice Chair Sue Blankenship — aye; Chair Edmond Haas — aye; Commissioner Maurer — aye; Commissioner Haefmann — aye.
The commission’s approval is for a one-year term; if the school seeks any further permanent amendment after that period it must return to the city for review. The commission also directed staff to include any agreed operational conditions in the drafted ordinance should commissioners want a specific split-schedule or complaint-triggered traffic condition noted.
The meeting ended with a brief council-items update from staff and an adjournment.
