20180970 Ver 1_Purpose and Need Statement_20180712

SEAFORTH HIGH SCHOOL
WETLAND AND STREAM IMPACT
PURPOSE AND NEED STATMENT

PURPOSE AND NEED:

The northeast area of Chatham County is in need of a new high school to serve the existing
community population as well as its continued growth. The Chatham County Board of
Education has been planning a high school in this area since 2007. This is a formal request to
approve wetland and stream impacts as a result of the need for a public high school in this area
and associated design considerations and code requirements that affect those considerations.

A wetland and stream delineation was performed in August 2016 by Froehling & Robertson.
Those delineations were field surveyed by Riley Surveyors in June 2017. A final
determination was provided in September 2017.

The proposed use is institutional, public high school, and by nature requires standard program
elements such as facility size requirements to accommodate the required student population,
ingress/egress requirements, outdoor recreation and athletic requirements, service area
requirements, program element adjacency and separation requirements, NCDOT MSTA traffic
separations and on-site stacking requirements, County code parking requirements, fire and
public safety requirements, and accessibility requirements.

Code requires the separation of parent and bus/service traffic dictates the need for two access
drives off Seaforth Road located on the east side of the site. These driveways make a loop
around the entire building and parking area. The loop road is needed for emergency vehicle
access. The new drives must be constructed to meet the Chatham County requirements for fire
truck, ambulance and law enforcement access. The design protects the stream buffers and
wetlands along the south side of this loop road by use of retaining walls. The design team has
done its best to reduce the amount of impact given the restrictions of tie-in locations and code
required design criteria.

Other factors affecting the ability to preserve the identified wetlands and stream channel are
code required buffers, environmental buffers, existing wetlands, steep topography, poor soils
and shallow rock. The facility also requires an on-site sanitary sewer system.

All factors listed above have been taken into consideration to site the proposed site elements in
a configuration to effectively reduce the amount of grading, reduce the amount and height of
retaining walls and to minimize the disturbance to existing wetlands. Achieving these items
will compact the development footprint, reduces the amount, height and need for costly
retaining walls, considers the reduction of potential rock removal and construction schedule to
open the school on time.

GENERAL PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The proposed Seaforth High School site is located off Seaforth Road, approximately one
quarter mile south of US 64. Currently, the site is vacant and contains wooded land. The site
was comprised of three adjoining parcels for a total of approximately 75.5 acres; the parcels
include PINs: 63027, 65726, and 65700. Zoning: R-1 in Chatham County. The three parcels
have recently been re-combined into one and is currently listed under PIN 63027.

The site runs from a high point of the northwest corner of the property to a low point on the
southeast corner. There are natural drainage areas running north to south in a couple locations
which fall to the stream located on the south east side of the site. There is a stream located in
the center of the site also running toward the southeast. There is significant grade change from
the western property line to Seaforth Road and the stream which heads south out of the
property. Retaining walls WILL be required.

A Traffic Impact Analysis for the high school and its subsequent improvements is completed
and approved by NCDOT.

Two access points will be provided for the high school separating the parent queue and bus
service. The main entrance to the site will be the southern-most driveway connection off
Seaforth Road. This entrance will be for parents, staff and students only. Approximately
2,700 linear feet of stacking is proposed to meet the requirements set forth by the North
Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) MSTA. Double stacking will be utilized to
meet the stacking requirement. The second entrance will be the northern driveway. This
entrance will be for bus and service only. Overnight parking for 20 buses will be provided at
this location.

Pedestrian connections are made throughout the site from all buildings to parking and field
areas. These connections are located to minimize the pedestrian/vehicular conflict.

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

The proposed high school is new construction with a core student population of 1,200 students
and the opening anticipated for 1000 students. The proposed building is located in the middle
of the site with staff and visitor parking on the east side and student parking on the west. Two
main driveways create a loop road system to allow for connections all the way around the
building and parking lots. The main entrance has a drop off loop drive which allows queuing
and drop-offs at the front of the school. The bus loop and service area is separated from the
parent, staff and student traffic by way of the northern driveway entrance and they are located
to the north side of the building. There are 147 staff and visitor parking spaces on the east side
of the school and 310 student parking spaces to the west. There are an additional 115 student
spaces to be added in the future to the student lot. All parent, staff and student traffic use the
southern driveway. The athletic fields are located on the western side of the site so as to
utilize the student parking lot for athletic events as well as providing connections to the
athletic fields straight from locker facilities located on the western end of the building. The
pedestrians are separated from car and bus movements for safety.

Two access points off Seaforth Road are proposed. The main entrance will be the southern
one. When entering the site, the drive heads west and then turns north toward the front
entrance and drop off area where the parent queue loading and unloading zone is located.
Double stack is utilized to meet queueing requirements. After loading/unloading occurs it is a
single lane exit back to Seaforth Road. The second access point is from the northern
driveway. This drive will be the bus/service drive entry/exit. There will be overnight parking
provided for 15 busses.

NCDOT MSTA requires that the parent traffic be separated from the bus and service traffic.
This design separates the parent loading/unloading users from the bus/service area.

Emergency vehicles will be able to access the site from both access points. The parent queue
drive is designed to meet the required width for emergency vehicle access. The parent drop-
off drive and bus/service drive will be connected via a 26’ wide fire lane which extends all the
way around the building. Two gates will be provided for controlled access as well as bollards.

Stormwater conveyance, treatment and detention will be provided to meet Chatham County
regulations. Multiple devices will be required to meet these regulations which include peak
flow controls and water quality controls. Nitrogen reduction will be required and can be
reduced through the use of SCM’s. There will be bioretention cells and an underground
stormwater system” SCM’s for storm water run-off and quality control. They are located in
the east, and southeast corners of the site.

AVOIDANCE & MINIMIZATION:

All practicable efforts have been made in the design of the proposed facility to avoid and
minimize impacts to the wetlands, streams and buffered areas within the site. The amount of
stream impact was reduced by use of a retaining wall along the edge of the loop road.
Retaining walls were added to protect the wetland areas and other stream buffers along the
south portion of the site. We are unable to provide the loop road and associated school
building facility without impact to part of the stream. We feel that the proposed design reflects
a significant effort to protect the environment and allow for the functionality of the current and
future needs of the campus.