Photo by Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
The empty lot across from the Plainfield Fire Station on 135th St. is the future site of a new daycare and early childhood education center. The Plainfield Planning Commission has asked the petitioners from Primrose School to consider altering the entrance to the school, to not risk cars backing up in front of the fire house.
By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
A new childcare and early educational facility hopes to soon call Plainfield home.
Primrose Schools is a national childhood education center chain, with four schools in the Chicago metro area. The school, launched in 1982, hopes to open its fifth Illinois location in Plainfield, on 135th Street behind the Meijer subdivision.
A plan for a special use permit for the school went before the Plan Commission earlier this month. Primrose hopes to develop the vacant, 2.74-acre site with a single-story, 11,550 square-foot child care facility, including a parking lot with 46 spaces, fenced outdoor playgrounds, and landscaping.
The staff report presented to the commissioners noted that the site is suitable for a school, with no detrimental impact to the adjacent properties.
An adjacent water detention area, as well as a park district property, should quell any excess noise at the sire from nearby commercial properties
The school would serve approximately 184 children, ages infants through kindergarten.
Primrose is seeking 46 parking spot, below the minimum parking requirement of 61 spaces for a building of that size and use.
John Finnemore, who spoke to the plan commission on behalf of Primrose Schools, said that despite the proposal for fewer parking spaces than required, it’s a problem that can be addressed easily. Finnemore their schools in similar communities find that 42 to 46 spaces are sufficient to meet their needs.
“We do find that 46 parking stalls are more than adequate for our use,” Finnemore said, noting that up to 25 percent of their clients have more than one child enrolled in their centers, thus creating less traffic at pickup times. “If it should become a problem, there’s an ability to add parking stalls and get it up to the 61 parking stalls required.”
Finnemore also noted that the schools don’t receive unexpected traffic throughout the day.
“The people that come to Primrose come there every day. They get very used to their commute patterns.,” Finnemore said. “It’s not an impulse stop… I think the two uses there are the people who will be very familiar with the road.”
One problem that stuck out to commissioners was the site’s proximity to the Plainfield Fire Department’s facility on 135th Street.
“My major concern with this is really the access to the site,” said Commissioner Andrew Heinen. “Specifically, the concern of people waiting to turn left into this development right outside the fire department and emergency equipment… I think you need to go back to the drawing board and redraw that entrance.”
That entrance point on 135th street would have room for a left turn lane for southbound cars to make a left turn, however, commissioners worry that too many cars waiting in line could pose a threat, if they end up stacking in the zone designed for firetrucks to clear their driveway.
The plan commission asked to see some tweaks to the entrance, to ensure safety as emergency vehicles may need to exit the fire station across the street.
The plan commission and Primrose School will consider changes to the site plan and come back for further discussion at a future date.