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City of Parkland reviews Somerset Academy traffic study, tightens enrollment ramp-up safeguards
Summary
At a June 3 workshop, engineers told Parkland commissioners that Somerset Academy’s expansion can meet level-of-service standards with on-site stacking, staggered schedules and a planned roundabout; commissioners pressed for enforceable, year-over-year enrollment limits and annual reporting tied to mitigation before the school can increase students.
Parkland officials and Somerset Academy representatives spent a June 3 workshop testing the traffic assumptions and enforcement language tied to the charter school’s proposed expansion to K–12 and an eventual 2,100-student cap.
Brian Kelly, a vice president at Simmons & White, told commissioners the traffic study used conservative assumptions — including 0% credit for ‘‘pass-by’’ trips — and modeled three scenarios: existing conditions, future background growth and future conditions with the school’s added trips. ‘‘All roadways meet level-of-service standards,’’ Kelly said, adding that internal queuing can be accommodated on site and that staggered start and dismissal times reduce peak impacts.
The applicant and the city’s own traffic engineer, John Arrieta, said independent reviewers at Broward County and the city concurred that the project meets standards if planned improvements are implemented. ‘‘Based on field observations and reviews, we have concluded in conjunction with Broward County that the applicant meets the standards with implementation of improvements to mitigate any potential impacts,’’ Arrieta said.
Engineers detailed operational mitigations that would remain in place as the campus grows: internal circulation lanes that allow staging for about 234 vehicles (with overflow capacity that can increase stacking to roughly 333 spaces), long turn lanes on Hillsborough Boulevard (about 400–500 feet, roughly 16–18 car lengths) and on-site traffic control officers during peak periods. For off-site capacity, Kelly highlighted a planned roundabout at Hillsborough Boulevard and University Drive, which his analysis showed could reduce average intersection delay from about 23 seconds to roughly 15 seconds.
Principal Castro described how school staff already open gates early and stage cars internally to prevent spillover onto the road. ‘‘We typically open before 2:00,’’ Castro said, describing routine gate adjustments and staging that staff use now and plan to expand.
Commissioners focused most of their discussion on enrollment caps and the ramp-up schedule. The amended development agreement being negotiated ties total enrollment to an approved ramp-up schedule and includes monthly site observations and annual monitoring reports. City staff and the applicant said the agreement includes enforcement tools: if monitoring finds unmitigated traffic impacts, the city can require remediation and withhold building permits or prohibit increased enrollment until issues are fixed. Scott Backman, representing Somerset, said the applicant would present annual monitoring results to the commission.
Even so, multiple commissioners and the vice mayor pressed for additional guardrails to avoid unintended outcomes — for example, a campus that fills with K–8 students while the high school enrollment remains low. Commissioners proposed adding language tying allowed year-over-year increases to either the ramp-up schedule or a maximum percentage so the cap cannot automatically jump forward if the school is under-enrolled in earlier phases. City staff and the applicant signaled they would draft clearer, enforceable wording reflecting that direction.
The workshop also covered how the study treated nearby, not-yet-approved projects: engineers said their base model includes approved projects and a conservative 1% annual background growth rate over five years, but unapproved developments (for instance, a Hendricks Farm proposal) were not modeled directly and would be required to do their own traffic studies and mitigation if they move forward.
The commission and applicant agreed to refine the conditions, enforcement language and reporting cadence before final approvals. A motion to adjourn was made and seconded; the transcript records the motion and second but does not include a formal vote tally in the record.
The next procedural step will be for staff and the applicant to refine the enforcement and ramp-up language and present a finalized set of conditions for the commission’s consideration.
