At their Nov. 21 hearing, the four Oxford Township Zoning Board members voted an even split 2 against 2 concerning approval for a parking lot proposed by Blue Valley High School. In a motion to approve the parking lot, Martin Seem and Natalie Kenny voted yes while Roxanne Morse and Deborah Lindsey voted no. In a second motion to deny the project, the votes were reversed with Seem and Kenny voting no while Morse and Lindsey voted yes. This even split in voting means that this project will go to a final Board of County Commissioner Hearing on Dec. 19 with a "failure to recommend" designation.

BVHS Argues Need For More Parking

Blue Valley High School is seeking to demolish the Blue Valley Church of the Nazarene and its white office building in order to construct an asphalt parking lot for 128 parking spaces. The parking lot would be only 11 feet away on parts of its southern boundary to Blue Valley Riding neighborhood and 20 feet away on over half of the western boundary.

During the hearing, Dave Hill, representing the high school, maintained that the parking lot was needed for regular school and special events parking, mainly football. He stated that within 3-5 years enrollment, presently at approx. 1,100 students would climb to 1,700 students.

Neighbors Argue This Is Not The Solution

Residents maintained that the evidence showed that this parking lot was primarily for special events spill-over and that if enrollment climbed to 1,700 the high school could enact measures previously used such as limiting the number of parking permits to sophomores. The high school presently has 659 parking spaces.

Attorney Joe Borich representing Richard and Sherry Dvorak stated a number of reasons opposing the parking lot. The parking lot:

• Was an intrusion into a residential neighborhood,
• Was very close to property lines while there were considerably longer distances at other high schools,
• Would bring noise, lighting, and other problems into the surrounding area,
• Was an unnecessary expense during a time of declining budgets, and
• Possibly broke deed restrictions placed on this property.

Members of Blue Valley Riding Neighborhood spoke in opposition to the parking lot.

TZB Expresses Concerns

The Oxford Board had concerns about the proposed 250 watt lighting-- and asked that stipulations be placed on the four 18-feet tall poles so that they contain only 150 watt lighting. After much discussion about the fence, it was decided to leave in place the requirement for a 6-foot tall wooden fence around the west and south boundary. A solid fence would limit car lights and noise from the lot. Drainage was also addressed--with a small detention pond area created to the far southeast behind the school to handle the runoff. Stipulations were placed on runoff from the parking lot so that it would be directed away from Blue Valley Riding.

In the final vote, Board member Lindsey expressed concerns that this 128-car lot was only a bandaid measure while Chair member Morse outlined her concerns that this parking lot violated many of the Golden Criteria used to evaluate a project and that this was a clear intrusion into Blue Valley Riding Neighborhood.

The final vote only means that the Oxford Township Board was split in its decision. A final vote on the parking lot will be held before the Johnson Couny Board of County Commissioners on December 19.

Protest Petition Planned

Joe Borich and his clients, the Dvoraks, had indicated that they would mount a protest petition against the project--which would require 4 instead of the normal 3 County Commissioners to approve a project.

Reported by Shirley Phillips, Nov 21, 2002 for NeighborhoodNet News

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