Planning Board to consider Lightbridge Academy
Rendering of Lightbridge Academy
Sept. 12. By Dave Vieser. Plans to build a pre-school facility at the intersection of West Catawba and Edinburgh Square Drive come before the Cornelius Planning Board on Monday Oct. 14. The members will consider making a recommendation for or against the project, known as the Lightbridge Academy.
The project will require rezoning from Village Center to Conditional.
Residents prepare to speak at the Town Board meeting on Lightbridge Academy
Background
The Planning Board is required to issue a non-binding recommendation to the Town Board which will schedule a public hearing before making a final decision on the project.
At a previous town board meeting held on July 15, residents voiced objections to the proposal.
This is a request by First Hartford Realty Co. to construct a 13,400-square-foot, one-story building at the intersection of West Catawba and Edinburgh Square Drive, for an early childcare center and preschool facility. The proposal calls for the inclusion of 42 parking spaces.
Lightbridge site plan
Community concerns
At a community meeting held on June 26, the major source of concern was the traffic that could be generated by this school. In response, attorneys for the applicant noted that the current zoning for that site would permit more parking spaces than the preschool proposal.
That did not mollify the dozens of nearby residents who stated that their concerns were more focused on the many cars picking up or dropping off the children.
The Planning Board meeting will take place in Town Hall on Catawba Avenue and will also be live streamed on the town website www.cornelius.org and the town Facebook site.
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Can’t believe this is still under consideration. The traffic at that intersection is already an issue that residents can’t exit the neighborhood, especially turning left. If this passes I can’t wait to see the reasoning. Won’t be safety, moms with kids in cars trying to get out. Can’t be the community? The coffee shop on that corner is already parking cars in that field because they don’t have parking. Is Lightbridge going to let them park in their lot?? Or just block the street even more??
My mom lives in Edinburg Square and that road is already impossible to turn out of onto Catawba. Unless they put a traffic light there, I don’t see how that would work.
Please do not let this school be approved. The neighbors concerns about cars backing up and lining up in the Edinburgh Square and Cloverstone Circle are legitimate. The school only has one way in and out so cars will have to line up to enter and leave. And that entrance is too close to West Catawba to allow cars to wait as they try to turn out onto West Catawba. This will be a nightmare for the community.
Since the July 16th meeting school buses are now running which adds another layer of chaos to this proposal. It is already difficult to navigate a one way street (Cloverstone Circle) with cars on the street but try it on a Tuesday when garbage trucks are combined with buses. I just hope no one needs medical attention in the early morning or late afternoon hours. There are plenty of sites to build a school, this just isn’t one of them. I hope the board will use some common sense on this one. If this were a review in the NFL it would take 2 seconds to make the right call.
The Lightbridge Academy franchise’s presentation at the July 15 Town Commissioners meeting was not well-received due to a lack of preparation and inadequate data. They failed to mention their existing facility in Huntersville, NC, on Eastfield Road, which has three entry and exit points and does not impact residential traffic. This omission, along with other issues such as a limited traffic study that did not consider essential services like Waste Management, Public School Buses, and Ambulance and Fire service levels, and outdated enrollment data. Residents of Edinburgh Square and Cornelius urge Commissioners to vote against the proposal.
W Catawba will become a “Reduced Conflict Intersection” (formerly known as “Super Street”) thoroughfare in the near future, and left turns in/out of side streets will be eliminated. This design markedly increases the capacity and efficiency of a road. Hopefully, the improved new traffic pattern is being taken into consideration in this discussion.
2029 is NOT in the near future. As we were told at the last meeting. Stop this incredibly dangerous situation and advise these folks to find a more logical place for a daycare facility.