Commission approves Lakeside Elementary additions; requires traffic study and mitigation plan

The Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday approved a site plan to expand Lakeside Elementary at 1100 Village Parkway by roughly 21,054 square feet spread across three single‑story additions, but asked the school district to submit a traffic impact assessment (TIA) and a traffic-management plan before final approvals. Mary Perrone Boswell, the city planner, said the additions will provide classrooms, a storm shelter/pre‑K wing, an art room and space for administration, counseling and health services; the record clarifies the previously published plans show the new elements as one story rather than two. The school is keeping an existing tubular-steel fence with brick columns along Oakwood Lane rather than replacing it with a masonry wall; staff included a requested exception to allow the existing fence to remain and asked for additional perimeter plantings. The applicant said the site meets the parking requirement: staff cited a required parking calculation of 90 and a provided total of 124 spaces. District officials told the commission the renovation is intended to increase capacity and to preserve district flexibility as trustees consider closures elsewhere in Coppell ISD; Interim Superintendent Doug Williams said the district will decide on closures in October and that some students could be rezoned or temporarily housed elsewhere if campuses are consolidated. Commissioners and many parents at the hearing urged careful study of circulation and pickup/drop‑off impacts: residents and parents reported long afternoon queues at nearby campuses after recent rezoning and school openings. Chairman Haas moved to approve the PD and site plan and to add a condition requiring a traffic-impact assessment and a traffic-management plan; the commission approved the motion unanimously. Final engineering-level circulation analysis and any required mitigation must be completed before construction permits are issued.