SR 05:244 - Laserfiche WebLink

number, representing one space per 4.3 seats, is adequate to support the 450-seat new sanctuary at Phase II construction and to avoid curbside parking on residential streets. In response to the appellants' concern of curbside parking being used by people attending Church functions, staff observed the parking pattern at St. Clare's on Sunday, May 22, 2005 from 9:40 a.m. to 12:00 noon. People arriving for the 10:00 worship service traveled by automobiles from Hopyard Road to Valley Trails Drive and used the on-site parking lot, except for four vehicles that parked on Valley Trails Drive. The existing parking lot appears to meet the parking demand for the regular Sunday worship services since no vehicles were observed to circulate around the parking lot and then park on the street due to lack of on-site parking. Seven on-site parking spaces were left unoccupied during the service. During the observation time, there were two vehicles parked along the east side of National Park Road, across from Sequoia Court. However, it was unclear if these two vehicles belonged to St. Clare's members since they were still parked at the same locations when staff leR the site at 12:00 noon. No vehicles arrived at St. Clare's from National Park Road. Three vehicles used National Park Road after exiting St. Clare's parking lot. The traffic pattern observed on the unannounced visit can be expected to be a typical pattern for Sunday traffic at St. Clare's. With the proposed additional parking spaces to support the expansion, staff would expect that a similar parking pattern would follow. Parking Lot Expansion and Safety The area proposed for the parking lot expansion is currently vacant. The appellants stated that using this area for parking "would be a visual blight to the surrounding neighborhoods as well as a source of noise. It would have an extremely negative effect on the character of the neighborhood." Additionally, the appellants stated that it would be safety concern if a wall were constructed to screen the vehicles as undesired activities may occur behind the wall. Staff does not agree that having the parking on the north portion of St. Clare's site would necessarily be a visual blight. This parking area could be used as a buffer to separate the residential use on Bryce Canyon Court from the non-residential use on the St. Clare's site. Currently a solid fence and a public walkway separate the residences on Bryce Canyon Court from St. Clare's site. This solid fence would effectively block headlights. To mitigate the visual appearance of a parking lot, landscaping, such as dense shrubs, is often used to screen headlights from vehicles and soften the appearance of the parking area. The master expansion plan, as conditioned, would provide new landscaping along National Park Road to screen and buffer the new parking area. When the design review for Phase II is considered, staffwill ensure that adequate landscaping is provided to create an attractive screen for the parking lot; Condition No. 3 addresses this requirement. SR:05:154 Page 8