Sunday, March 4, 2001
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Sunday, March 4, 2001 |
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School returns to city with Market request By MONROE ROARK
Fayette Christian School is taking the next step in its quest to turn the old A&T Market into a day care facility. After informal discussions at last month's Fayetteville Planning and Zoning Commission workshop, the school is on the March agenda with an official variance request and revised elevations for the site, at the northwest corner of Lanier Avenue and Jeff Davis Boulevard. The former occupants of the building, the Market teen club, ended its stay amid an eruption of controversy after allegations of lewd dancing and underage drinking on and near the premises led to several arrests. The main campus of Fayette Christian, on Longview Drive in the northern part of Fayetteville, houses students from K-3 through the 12th grade. About 50 children are in the kindergarten program, and that number could increase to more than 130 at the Market site, according to school administrators. The variance request stems from the amount of outdoor play area available at the site. State Department of Human Resources regulations allow 138 children to occupy the building, school officials say, but city ordinances requiring 150 square feet of outdoor play area per child leaves the school with a shortage. Dropping that requirement to 100 square feet per child, which school officials said is within DHR guidelines, would make the current outdoor play area sufficient. The school, which is negotiating a multi-year lease agreement with the owners of the property, hope to be operating at the site in some fashion this summer. The remainder of the March agenda for the Planning and Zoning Commission consists of proposed amendments to the city's zoning ordinance, specifically regarding temporary buildings, amendment procedure, customary home occupation, and open space zoning districts.
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