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Planning commission approves amended SUP for Lucas Christian Academy with conditions on hours, lighting and screening
Summary
The Lucas Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of an amended Special Use Permit for Lucas Christian Academy to add an adjacent tract and a new master plan, subject to limits on hours, exterior lighting curfews and requirements for dense evergreen screening and a hedgerow.
The Lucas Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve amendments to the special use permit (SUP) for Lucas Christian Academy to incorporate an adjacent 22.679‑acre tract and adopt a new master plan, subject to conditions on hours of operation, exterior lighting and landscape screening.
Chair moved the approval and summarized conditions that will be recommended to Lucas City Council: retain items 1–3 from the 2011 SUP, require hours of operation Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., limit exterior field lighting Monday/Tuesday/Thursday to 9:30 p.m. and Friday to 10:30 p.m., and require a “full live screen” of evergreen trees (minimum 25‑gallon stock, maximum 10‑foot spacing) plus a hedgerow for immediate visual screening. The motion carried in the recorded vote (the record states it carried 4–1 with Commissioner Highs voting no).
Joseph Walker, head of school at Lucas Christian Academy, told the commission the school was founded in 1999 and has “grown to nearly 450 students today in pre‑K to 12th grades,” and that its facilities are at capacity. Walker said adding the adjacent property would allow the school to bring athletic competitions and large fine‑arts events onto campus and reduce off‑site trips for students and families.
Staff presentation described the master plan’s major elements: a proposed Stinson Road alignment through the property to improve traffic flow, space reserved for detention to mitigate runoff, and the relocation of high‑intensity uses away from existing residences. Staff said detailed engineering (drainage and lighting studies, elevations) will be completed at the construction plan phase and that specific SUP language and enforcement details would be set by ordinance or development agreement.
The commission’s approval memorializes the specified hours and screening requirements and directs staff to include the listed conditions in the SUP recommendation to city council. The SUP now moves forward for council consideration with the commission’s recommended conditions.
