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P&Z approves permit for new charter school |
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Friday, 11 July 2008 |
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By Emily Hone BLACKFOOT — The Bingham County Planning Zoning Commission voted Wednesday night to approve a special use permit for a new charter school to be located at Groveland, but turned thumbs down on an SUP application for a Wapello couple to have more than the allowed number of livestock on their two lots in a Residential/Agriculture Subdivision.
The vote to approve the Idaho Science and Technology Charter School for middle school age students was unanimous.
It came with the conditions that the school board present a letter from the Groveland Water and Sewer District board of directors saying the district has the capability of providing services to the school that will be designed for 300 students, and present a plan for how they will get water to the property for irrigation before the SUP will be issued.
Presenting the application, Marc Isom, chairman of the charter school board of trustees, said the school will be located on 12.4 acres across Groveland Road from the Groveland Townsite in a Residential Zone on land that was approved for the Groveland Meadows Subdivision in 2007. He said the land comes with water shares.
Zoning Department Supervisor Allen Jensen said even though the subdivision plat was approved, it becomes void after a certain period of time if development hasn’t proceeded.
Isom said the board is in the process of obtaining a state charter for the school and fully anticipates it will be granted. He said it will be constructed with loans from lending institutions that will be repaid with student funds received from the state.
If development proceeds as planned, he said, they will be ready to open in the fall of 2009.
Isom said there are many parents in support of the school, and the subjects it will teach are much needed. He said the state of Idaho is moving toward a high tech society and people have an obligation to prepare their children to compete in it.
“I’m told that Idaho exports more microchips than it does potato chips,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the charter school board, Pastor Mark Fiske said the school will provide parents an option to sending their children to public schools, where many are concerned about the teacher-student ratio.
There was no testimony against the permit, but Blackfoot School District Superintendent Scott Crane wrote the board a letter saying middle schools in the county’s five-school district are sufficient to educate its middle school students.
In response to a zoning board question of how they know enough parents are interested in a charter middle school, Gary Larsen, until recently principal of the Idaho Learning Academy charter high school at Pingree, said they had more inquiries about openings from parents of middle school students than they did high school students.
Larsen said the No Child Left Behind Act is causing the top students to be ignored while teachers concentrate their efforts on those with learning difficulties because they cause schools to get black marks for education.
“This is something that’s been needed for a long time,” Larsen said.
In order to reach a decision on the charter school’s request for an SUP, the zoning board suspended its recently passed rule to close hearings and continue them if necessary rather than go past 11 p.m.
Kent Banner made the motion to approve the permit and it was seconded by Gay Sorensen.
The public hearing on a request from Dan and Lisa Stephenson for an SUP that would allow them to keep a higher number of cattle than allowed by ordinance on their nearly 10 acres of land in the Brown Subdivision at Wapello took up most of the evening.
Dan Stephenson testified they own two lots in the Residential/Agriculture Subdivision on which they kept 17 head if cows part of the year and calved them out in the winter. He said they added another 13 head owned by his father to help him out, and would like to continue to have 30 head.
Several people testified in opposition to the permit, saying the animals interfere with their quality of life and devalue their homes.
While the board members were sympathetic with the Stephensons, Hortense Nelson, who made the motion to deny the permit, said the zoning ordinance clearly limits the number of livestock allowed in an R/A Subdivision, and states that livestock kept there is to be for food or pleasure of the homeowners and not for commercial use.
Paul Clark seconded the motion and only member Charles Shackelford voted against it.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 July 2008 )
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