Commission debates formula to set preschool stacking‑lane requirements

Commissioners debated a technical formula to determine how many vehicle stacking spaces preschool drop‑off lanes should provide. The idea, offered by a commissioner who identified himself as an engineer, would base required stacking on student capacity and on 30‑minute loading/unloading periods, and would account for the number of attendants handling drop‑off.

Staff explained that licensed preschools differ from daycares because preschools typically have fixed start and stop times (which creates a peak stacking demand), while daycares have staggered arrivals and rarely need formal stacking lanes. Staff cited local observations (usually five to six cars during peak times in their informal checks) and showed that preservation credits for trees did not affect the stacking calculation but could affect overall site layout.

The engineer‑commissioner gave an example: a preschool with 100 students, one 30‑minute loading period and four attendants would need about 25 stacking spaces under the proposed approach. Commissioners said the proposal should be routed through the ordinance amendment process (staff and the city attorney/ordinance liaison would draft language) and that the planning staff and legal counsel should be consulted before any requirement is written into the code.

No formal motion to amend the ordinance was taken at this meeting; commissioners agreed to include the topic in future ordinance amendment discussions and to coordinate with staff (including the city attorney’s office) for drafting.