PC Minutes 12-17-18

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION DECEMBER 17, 2018 The Regular Meeting of the City of Dover Planning Commission was held on Monday, December 17, 2018 at 7:00 PM in the City Hall Council Chambers with Chairman Mr. Tolbert presiding. Members present were Mr. Roach, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Holt, Mr. Baldwin, Dr. Jones, Mrs. Welsh, Ms. Maucher and Mr. Tolbert. Mr. Holden was absent. (Mr. Holden arrived at 7:02 pm.) Staff members present were Mrs. Dawn Melson-Williams, Mr. Jason Lyon, Mr. Julian Swierczek, Mrs. Tracey Harvey and Mrs. Kristen Mullaney. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Ms. Maucher moved to approve the agenda as submitted, seconded by Mr. Holt and the motion was unanimously carried 8-0 with Mr. Holden absent. APPROVAL OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 19, 2018 Mr. Holt moved to approve the Planning Commission Meeting minutes of November 19, 2018, seconded by Mrs. Welsh and the motion was unanimously carried 8-0 with Mr. Holden absent. COMMUNICATIONS & REPORTS Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that the next Planning Commission regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at 7:00pm in the City Council Chambers. Mr. Swierczek provided an update on the regular City Council and various Committee meetings held on December 10 & 11, 2018. Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that included in the packet for tonight was the Institute for Public Administration’s Training Series. She believes that Ms. Edwards and Dr. Jones had indicated their hope to attend a couple of trainings and she believes that they have been scheduled. The next training session is scheduled for January 18, 2019 and it’s “Planning Your Community’s Future.” They are going to talk about the basics of planning and things like Comprehensive Plans and the like. The deadline is the day before. Some of these classes do fill quickly so if you have any interest please let Planning Staff know and they will get you signed up. Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that also included in the packet was the Schedule of Meeting Deadlines and Application Deadlines for 2019. Please mark your calendars for the Planning Commission meeting dates. Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that there was another handout left on the desks tonight related to the Senator Bike Way in preparation for what will be future project activities. This was received this evening from the Public Works Office and Mr. Lyon is here if there are any questions. Basically there is a segment of West Division Street leading towards the railroad tracks and then turning up North West Street that will have within the next few months signage that indicates no parking on the street in preparation for what will be bike and pedestrian improvements in those 1

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION DECEMBER 17, 2018 segments. It is a DelDOT project that is expected to start this Spring. Just to be aware, the Senator Bike Way project is more than just one segment; so this is the segment that DelDOT will be focusing on this Spring and Summer. OPENING REMARKS CONCERNING DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS Mrs. Melson-Williams presented the audience information on policies and procedures for the meeting. OLD BUSINESS 1) Requests for Extensions of Planning Commission Approval: None NEW APPLICATIONS 1) C-18-05 Our Future Christian Childcare Center II at 614 South DuPont Highway – Public Hearing and Review of Application for Conditional Use to permit conversion of an existing 4,300 +/- SF one-story building into a Child Day Care Center to serve 40 children. The property consists of a 0.69-acre (30,000 +/- SF) parcel and is located on the west side of South DuPont Highway, south of River Road. The property is zoned C-4 (Highway Commercial Zone). The owner of record is Christian Life Center and the applicant is Jacqueline Harris. Property Address: 614 South DuPont Highway. Tax Parcel: ED-05- 077.14-01-19.01-000. Council District 4. Representatives: Mr. Anthony Harris & Mrs. Jacqueline Harris, Our Future Christian Child Care Center Mrs. Harvey stated that this plan is for the review of a Conditional Use Plan to permit conversion of an existing 4,300 SF one story building into a Child Day Care Center to serve 40 children with 6 attendants. The property consists of over 3,200 SF and is located on the west side of South DuPont Highway south of River Road. The property is zoned C-4 (Highway Commercial Zone). The owner of record is Christian Life Center and the applicant leasee is Jacqueline Harris. The property address is 614 South DuPont Highway. The existing building was previously utilized as a church. The applicant is not proposing any renovations to the building. The proposed hours of operation are from 6:30AM to 6:00PM Monday through Friday. A fence is proposed to surround an outdoor playground area in the rear of the building. Child Day Care Centers require one parking space for every ten children and one parking space for every adult attendant. Based on the number of children at forty and the number of adult attendants at six, a total of ten parking spaces are required. The Site Plan indicates that there are forty-seven existing parking spaces with two handicapped parking spaces located in the rear of the property which is near the front main entrance located on the north side of the building. The parking requirement has been met. There is a concrete island located along South DuPont Highway dividing the site entrance and exit. On the front (east) side of the building there is another concrete island with parking on both sides. There is not a particular area improved as a sidewalk along the frontage; however, the area is paved. There is a sidewalk in the rear of the building with no access to the building. The front and rear entrance to the building is located on 2

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION DECEMBER 17, 2018 the north and south sides of the building and the areas are paved leading to the building. Planning Staff recommends that the Planning Commission prescribe the following conditions and safeguards. The path of the pedestrian circulation to the outdoor play area from the building should be identified. The implementation of additional crosswalk markings, site elements and signage may be necessary in areas where the path of travel crosses parking areas or over a drive aisle. Staff recommends a pedestrian crosswalk to be striped at the front entrance and exit points of the site from DuPont Highway. Staff accepts the existing conditions of the parking lot and will not require the installation of upright curbing. In the parking space locations there are existing features that includes parking bumpers and fencing that limit vehicle travel. Mr. Harris stated that they have already met with all of the participants in this project and they agree and are working cooperatively with Staff to complete all of the necessities to create this opportunity for this Day Care. Mr. Harris shared a video with the Commission. The video states “My name is Anthony Harris and I am a Master Corporal for Wilmington Police. I have been a Police Officer for 26 years now and my wife and I decided two years ago that we wanted to open up a day care that caterers and develops our kids and to prepare our kids for school. The name of the day care is Our Future Christian Child Care Center. It is a Police based day care and what that is, is every once in a while our Officers come in and interact with the kids, develop a rapport with the kids. We also bring in Officers from different divisions to talk about what we do in the community and we talk about our assignment. The first two months that we were open my wife and I talked about it, I stayed out of the day care in uniform so the kids were calling us Mr. Anthony and Ms. Jackie. Two months later, I walked in with my uniform and the kids were very hesitant to interact with me. But a week later, the kids relate to me as Mr. Anthony and realize that I am a human in uniform or out of uniform, that I am a human that cares about our kids and that cares about our future. As I was walking through the day care one day to leave, one of the kids said Mr. Anthony we love you and I was in uniform. That is what is going to make a difference in our community.” Mr. Harris stated that the reason he wanted to share that is because he is currently retired from Wilmington Police. He retired in July 2018 and out of 28 years of law enforcement, what he realized that there is a challenge today of our kids and interacting with current law enforcement because of social media. What he realized is, as Police Officers we have to go back to our community when they are young because the most influential age of our kids are as toddlers. He currently has the opportunity to travel around the Country and talk to high school aged kids in a program called The Law and You. What he is learning from talking to over 85,000 kids over the last year and a half is why couldn’t this happen earlier? What he realizes is the concept that we have and we’ve implanted for the last four years at Our Future Christian Child Care Center in the City of Wilmington is the earlier that you interact with our kids, the more they understand, the more they comply, the more they listen, the more they are waiting for direction. Those are some of the issues that we deal with in our day care with some of our kids. Our goal is to open up around the Country. As long as we can interact with the local law enforcement to get them to interact this will change the future of our kids with their interaction with law enforcement as they 3

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION DECEMBER 17, 2018 go forward. Ms. Edwards questioned what response was received from the local law enforcement agency? Responding to Ms. Edwards, Mr. Harris stated that one of the other things that he has the opportunity to do is be the representative for Police Department Insurance in the State of Delaware. He has done a presentation for Dover Police and talked to the Chief about it. He said to let them know when the day care center is open and they will cooperate. He has traveled to Georgia, Texas and Florida and has spoken with people about the project and they can’t wait. Mr. Roach stated that one section states that there will be services for children ages 2-6 and the other side says ages 1-12. Is there a difference as far as what services are provided at certain times or is it just after care of the kids who are older than 6? Responding to Mr. Roach, Mrs. Harris stated that the at the center in Wilmington, they started at that age but the center in Dover will be a little bit different. The Wilmington location is for ages 2-6 and the Dover location will be for ages 1-12. Dr. Jones stated that ideally children are in school from ages 6-12 so does your program provide the educational opportunities and structure for school aged children? Responding to Dr. Jones, Mrs. Harris stated that school aged children are only there in the morning and in the afternoon. They will be there for before and after care but in the Summer they will be there full time for Summer Camp. Dr. Jones questioned if all of the funding will come from parent payment or do you get State funding? Responding to Dr. Jones, Mrs. Harris stated that they would actually get both. They would accept the Purchase of Care Program and then private pay. Dr. Jones further questioned if they have experienced any issues regarding the separation of church and State in terms of funding? She asks that question because of the way the brochure speaks to the fact that it is a Christian environment and so forth. Responding to Dr. Jones, Mr. Harris stated no, there are no issues with that. Mr. Tolbert questioned if the site in Wilmington, DE is the only other site that you have? Responding to Mr. Tolbert, Mrs. Harris stated yes. Mr. Tolbert further questioned what is the involvement with the parents of the children? Responding to Mr. Tolbert, Mrs. Harris stated that they do have opportunities where they have some activities where the parents may come in for life skills training. They have some opportunities where they do a Parent Night where the children come in with their parents and do an activity. They don’t have a lot of them because unfortunately a lot of our parents are working parents and they don’t have a lot of time. Around the holidays they have big dinners with the parents and kids and they give out gifts. They also have a program where they give out turkey dinners. For Thanksgiving, they were able to bless some families with dinners and during Christmas time they normally adopt a couple of the families. Mr. Tolbert questioned if the parents have any kind of parent organizations that deal with your organization? Responding to Mr. Tolbert, Mrs. Harris stated no but that is something to look 4

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION DECEMBER 17, 2018 forward to doing. Mr. Tolbert stated that the reason that he raises the question about parents is that parents are so important of course and we have a lot of young parents who are not able to parent well and that has a tremendous effect on the children. The way parents deal with children can make your job easy or difficult. Responding to Mr. Tolbert, Mrs. Harris stated that is definitely something that they can look towards. She will say that before opening up the child care center, she used to work for a program called Parents As Teachers. She worked for that program for over ten years. The program was to teach the early parents what they need to be doing with their children from birth until they go to Kindergarten so she understands exactly where you are coming from with that; it is very important. Mr. Roach stated that his daughter used to go to King Christian Academy and they incorporated the Christian values throughout the curriculum for the kids. Is that going to be the idea with this center or is it just going to be essentially day care but it’s based on Christian values without actually being incorporated throughout the daily things? Do you have prayer in the morning or Bible lessons in the afternoon? He is just trying to get a general idea as far as how a day would go at your day care center. Responding to Mr. Roach, Mrs. Harris stated that they use High Scope as their curriculum. Each month they have a particular person in the Bible that they highlight for the month or it may be a scripture. There is prayer every morning before they start their day and of course we pray before we eat at things like that. Mr. Tolbert opened a public hearing and after seeing no one wishing to speak, closed the public hearing. Mr. Holden moved to approve C-18-05 Our Future Christian Childcare Center II at 614 South DuPont Highway, to include the recommended additional considerations on (DAC Report)Page 6 related to pedestrian circulation, sidewalk and upright curbing and that the applicant works with Staff to resolve those issues. He thinks that it is in harmony with location, size and character of the location request. He thinks that it is a service that we need in our footprint and he thinks the applicants bring to them good experience and success in this matter. Seconded by Mr. Holt and the motion carried 9-0 by roll call vote. Mr. Holden voting yes; for the reasons stated. Mr. Roach voting yes; for the reasons previously stated. Ms. Edwards voting yes; based on the applicant’s willingness to work with Staff and resolve the issues on Page 6. She also feels that they are really providing a great service to the community and helping to guide and groom our children when they are young and the most ready to learn. Mr. Holt voting yes; he thinks that it is a real win win for the City of Dover and he thinks that it is going to be a really great thing for the young people in our area. Mr. Baldwin voting yes; for all of the reasons previously stated. Dr. Jones voting yes; for all of the reasons and conditions previously stated. Mrs. Welsh voting yes; for all of the reasons previously stated. Ms. Maucher voting yes; for reasons previously stated. Mr. Tolbert voting yes; the applicant has presented a very professional understanding of the services that they provide and the need for those services. With their understanding of the services that they provide and the success that they have had, he hopes that they can help some of the local programs to reach the level of professionalism that they presented here this evening. 5

CITY OF DOVER PLANNING COMMISSION DECEMBER 17, 2018 NEW BUSINESS 1) Project for Dover’s 2019 Comprehensive Plan a. Update on Project Activities b. Continued Review of Preliminary DRAFT Goals & Recommendations c. Continued Review of Preliminary DRAFT Land Development Plan Map Series d. Continued of Preliminary DRAFT Annexation Plan Map Series Mrs. Melson-Williams stated that as a reminder, they have issued Preliminary Drafts of the Goals & Recommendations, the Land Development Plan Map Series and the Annexation Plan Map Series. If you have questions or have comments on those, please share them with Planning Staff. You can also point people to the website that was noted in the packet for the project. Staff has continued to work on writing and they are actually going very thoroughly through the Goals & Recommendations at the Staff level and there will recently be some refinement there. She will be happy to answer any questions that you may have thought of since the last meeting on any of those topics. Dr. Jones gave her some written comments on the Goals & Recommendations tonight and they encourage that from all of the Commissioners. They are still working towards the drafting of the text of the entire document. That will have to go through a very formal review and approval process. They are not quite sure of the timing of that as of yet but they intend to be done before summer. Hopefully by the next meeting they will have a better sense of what their future timing will be related to the issuing of a Draft and getting that out for its formal review and hearing process. Meeting adjourned at 7:35 PM. Sincerely, Kristen Mullaney Secretary 6