St. Mark's Catholic Church

ATTENDING: Committee members - Lois Rice, Bruce Wright, Edythe Frankel, Feliza Kepler, Gene Klein, and Joe Stowers.

Other attendees: Supervisor Hudgins, Planning Commissioner John Palatiello, Goldie Harrison of Supervisor Hudgins' office, Father Culkin, Lynda Dindtler, Larry Dindtler, Sandy Struckmeyer, Roger Holtorf, and Vito Florimonte.

Supervisor Hudgins called the meeting to order at 7:30. The meeting was devoted to a discussion of the St. Mark's Catholic School application, SE 00-H-028. Supervisor Hudgins stated that she is aware of the concerns raised at the land use committee meetings, and other meetings held to discuss the Church application as well as from direct communication with concerned citizens. The goal of tonight's meeting is to develop ways to mitigate the concerns.

Mr. Struckmeyer - Three citizens from the neighborhood are here to address four major concerns: Traffic, possible water well contamination, drainage, and night use of the new facility. The primary concern is traffic. Despite the traffic study conducted by the Church, and the proposal for car-pooling, the traffic concerns of the community have not been addressed. The solution is to implement a mandatory busing program because it will provide transportation for up to 400 kids and significantly reduce the number of vehicle trips to and from the Church. St. Timothy's school has an affordable busing program that seems to work.

Father Culkin - After the first public meeting he met with the superintendent of schools for the diocese to ask if there was any flexibility in the previous decision not to allow busing. The answer was no. Busing was phased out in the 80's due to increased cost of insurance; schools with busing in place were grand-fathered., The use of vans is not possible because insurance companies will withdraw coverage when they are used for carrying school children. St. Timothy's is probably subsidizing it's busing program. Fr. Culkin said that it is possible to use vans for after school activities.

Mr. Struckmeyer - Is it possible that Supervisor Hudgins or Commissioner Palatiello can intervene with the diocese? Father Culkin doesn't think it would help because of the costs that would have to be paid by the parents who would probably choose other schools.

Commissioner Palatiello - Does the church know how many families live within 1 mile of the church? The Church did not know how many are within 1 mile but said that approximately 700 families out of 2400 are located in the 22181 Zip code. Mr. Holtorf said that he estimated that there were approximately 400 families out of 3000 within 1 mile.
Mr. Dindtler - Noted that the County will not make a commitment of police for traffic control at the Church entrance, that would be paid for by the Church, before the school is built.

Supervisor Hudgins - Will ask the County why they will not make a commitment. Commissioner Palatiello said staff is considering a development condition that would cap the number of vehicle trips per school day. He did not think that staff was willing to mandate busing.
Mr. Struckmeyer stated that 100 trips per day was reasonable.

There was discussion of the car pool requirement and whether it is possible to enforce the requirement. Father Culkin said the Church is committed to enforcing the car pool requirement. Commissioner Palatiello stated that the County would enforce the car pool requirement. Mr. Struckmeyer said he doubted the County's ability to enforce it. He also stated that even with car-pooling, the community thinks there would be too many cars. However, even if busing were required it would face similar enforcement problems. It could be made mandatory, but the church feels that its school should not be bound by higher standards than those that apply to public schools. However, Mr. Palatiello noted that there is a double standard in that private schools are often required to go beyond what is required of public schools in order to obtain approval.

There was some discussion of the car pool system at Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC), and how well it works. It was brought up that there are several entrances/exits at OLGC and there are Do Not Turn signs at many of the local streets that are allowed by the town of Vienna but would be much more difficult to implement here. Mr. Struckmeyer said that another option is to halve the size of the school but this was not pursued in the discussion.

Neighborhood opposition to the school was discussed. The Vale Road Coalition (VRC) went door to door to survey opinions about the school. Approximately 467 of the 801 homeowners polled within a 1-mile radius are opposed to the school according to the coalition. 146 are in favor of the school, and 188 households did not take a position so that of those that took a position, 4 out of 5 were opposed [76%]. If a busing plan were proposed, the VRC opposition would be much lower.

Neighbors think that the safety of the children is a major concern, and busing would reduce the risk, both to St. Mark's school children and children in the many surrounding schools. The Church disagrees. Father Culkin stated that existing traffic conditions at Vale Road are already unsafe and adding the additional cars aren't going to make the situation worse.

Commissioner Palatiello said he would look at other private schools and see how busing is working and how the enforcement works. Mr. Struckmeyer said that the context of the school is important in that there are already several other schools nearby. Ms. Dindtler mentioned St. Luke's school on Georgetown Pike that is in a comparable situation with other schools nearby and is on a busy road. Mr. Struckmeyer stated that even with a busing plan, many of the 400+ currently opposed to the school would still be opposed. Mr. Florimonte said the school was too large for the neighborhood and it does not belong on this site. The 65,000 sq. ft. is equivalent to an additional 20 single-family homes on the 19.2 acres.

The discussion turned to the topic of groundwater issues. Mr. Holtorf described the situation: Sewer and water services were installed in the early 90's, but many neighbors are still using their own wells, some shallow and some deep. On Stryker Ave., no County water is available, and the wells are shallow. Trott Ave. residents can have County water as an option. He referred to USGS report RI #59, 1994, that shows evidence of groundwater contamination associated with parking lots and cars. Even if best management practices (BMP) are used at the church, they may be deemed unacceptable in the future. He proposed a solution that might be acceptable to the community: For the Church to install test wells that would be monitored periodically for contamination. If contamination were found, then the church would work with the community to address the problem. He stated that when the proposed sand filters are removed, if they contain toxics, they would be very costly to dispose of and could be considered hazardous because the sand accumulates cadmium and zinc.

Mr. Palatiello stated that the County thinks the situations in the USGS report and the church are different. He must rely on the professional judgment of the County staff, who determine the chances of contamination. The discussion turned to the direction of surface water flow. Mr. Florimonte stated that the flow appears to be toward Church property, where it collects and is drained by an underwater culvert to Difficult Run. We need a better understanding of the flow to determine what impacts the construction will have on local flooding conditions. Supervisor Hudgins agreed that an understanding of the water flow is important and will work with County staff on this issue.

Mr. Struckmeyer asked if the school is approved, is it possible for the County to put conditions banning construction vehicles on Vale Road during morning and afternoon school drop-off and pick-up hours. Supervisor Palatiello said that yes, this is done in some cases and Father Culkin said the Church would agree to cooperate.

Mr. Struckmeyer wanted to know what onsite control there is. Mr. Palatiello said that there is a long process that the applicant must go through after the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors approves and application. Permits are requested and bonds posted to ensure that the work complies with County regulations. Neighbors can also call the Commissioner or Supervisor or the County to report problems. Ms. Hudgins also stated that communities can also set up a mechanism for ongoing communication with the developer.

Mr. Palatiello stated that the neighbors should let him know of any concerns they have so that if necessary, development conditions can be used to address the concerns.

Mr. Struckmeyer wanted to know if it is possible for the Church to deviate from the existing plan once the Special Exception is approved. Mr. Palatiello stated that the Special Exception is very specific, and any changes need to be approved by the County.

In response to a suggestion, Supervisor Hudgins requested that a community liaison and review committee be set up to continue this dialogue and to consider responses to questions and concerns that have been raised, throughout the review and construction process and beyond.

Follow-up communication will be via email to Mr. Holtorf who will pass on the information to neighbors. A copy of the County staff report is due Wed or Thurs. and will be sent to Mr. Holtorf and be available in the Supervisor's office.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:20.