Council approves Springtown Middle School expansion, grants landscaping variance

Springtown City Council voted Feb. 26 to approve plans for a major expansion of Springtown Middle School and granted a landscaping variance tied to the project.

Springtown ISD representatives told the council the addition will add 10 classrooms and accommodate roughly 150 more students; the project includes changes to fire-lane routing and grading that require retaining walls. The district said those site constraints prevent planting the trees the city ordinance would otherwise require along the property line. “With the grade changes and moving the fire lane, there's not enough room to plant the required trees along the property line,” a district representative said.

After the required quasi-judicial briefing for the landscaping variance, council members voted to approve the variance request and then approved the commercial site plan with a condition that outstanding engineering plans be completed. The site-plan motion passed with a recorded vote of 4-0 (one council member had recused from ISD bond-related items). The school district said landscaping will be placed where feasible, and staff noted the variance decision was based on documented site constraints rather than cost-savings.

The project will move to permitting and construction phases; the district and staff will provide the engineering plan updates required to finalize permits.