Laurel School Approved for Amphitheater, Science Building
Russell Township residents may have noticed recent activity at the Laurel School’s Butler Campus off Fairmount Road, with the Russell Township Board of Zoning Appeals issuing a conditional use permit for an amphitheater and environmental science building Oct. 7.
Russell Township residents may have noticed recent activity at the Laurel School’s Butler Campus off Fairmount Road, with the Russell Township Board of Zoning Appeals issuing a conditional use permit for an amphitheater and environmental science building Oct. 7.
Architect Conway Pedron, of Vocon — an architecture firm with offices in Cleveland and New York — described the plans for the new center at an initial hearing June 10. A second hearing followed in October.
“It’s an approximately 10,000-square-foot classroom and dining facility located on a former softball field site at the Laurel Butler Center,” Pedron said June 10, according to a transcript provided by Russell Township Zoning Inspector Shane Wrench. “It is a modest one-story, 29-foot tall structure, Type-5 construction, very elegant cedar-tied siding and simple asphalt roof shingles.”
The amphitheater will be eight rows, dropping down to a concrete pad stage and will be embedded within the landscape. It will be used for small productions, primarily students performing for their parents, Pedron said.
“It will not be for major rock concerts. I know everybody has fears of LaureLive still to this day and it is not for that at all,” he said.
The portion of the field where the amphitheater is being built also already drops down a bit, said landscape architect Kathy Jankowski, adding they’re planning to carve it out a bit more.
Noise to neighbors is also not a concern, Pedron said.
“The only thing that will possibly take place is some small amplified sound for microphones, but I don’t think it will be (a problem) — but, it’s 175 to 180 feet back from the closest neighbor’s lot line,” he said, adding he does not think there is a chance of sound traveling that far.
The theater will not include an audio system and anything used would be brought to the site, he said.
While the site is primarily for daytime use, its lighting has been lensed so as to not be visible from far away, Pedron explained, adding this includes lighted handrails within the amphitheater, which would only be on for evening events.
At the October hearing, an audience member clarified the amphitheater would not be used for anything other than school activities.
Septic
Vice Chair Dushan Bouch raised questions about the sanitary sewers.
“On Thursday, May 30, you submitted the sanitary sewer extension plans and I read that as a request last minute,” he said. “Currently, all we have is these small plans and they’re undated and the area for the issue is whited out, so do we have … something for a record or that we need to reference this?”
Pedron replied while he had the plans on his computer, he did not have them present. Chair Steve Gokorsch said he read the plans with the small print and it appeared to him the new building would simply tie into the old septic system.
Board member Mark McGrievy asked if there would be any increase in size or capacity.
Pedron replied that while they are just tying into the existing septic vats right now, the septic field would slightly increase as part of a future development.
Gokorsch added septic is not under the BZA’s purview and they would not be able to give a conditional use permit until the Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District had given approval of it.
At the October meeting, Pedron said they had received approval from GSWCD and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Parking & Lighting
Plans show five parking spaces would be provided immediately on the site and 190 already exist in a teacher’s lot.
However, Bouch expressed concern that with classrooms on the property, Laurel is already overparked.
Head of School Ann Klotz said the campus is not planning to increase the number of teachers and students on site.
“We’re not adding more employees with the exception of those couple kitchen staff and even those are already preparing meals now for the little girls to have their lunch,” she said.
Gokorsch said while that may be the case now, variances could last for many years and the board already saw expansion of the site during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wrench said he examined worst-case scenarios and believes there would still be 83 spaces available. At the October meeting, Pedron created a worst-case scenario in which the amphitheater, softball fields and tennis court are all being used at once with visiting teams and bus parking and confirmed there should still be 83 spaces after that.
The plans also show pole lights shielded to cast light directly down, with bollard lights being managed in a similar way.
“They are kind of geometrically triangular-shaped that cast light directly down onto the path directly in front of them,” Pedron said, adding they are also dark sky radiant and should not have spillage.
Gokorsch confirmed there are no exterior lights on the building and Pedron said only side lights are required over entrances, which would also shine down.
Lighting would be limited to walkways to the parking lot and theater, Pedron said, noting the lights would not be on all the time.
Noise Concerns Address
Gokorsch also inquired about noise from a rooftop air conditioning unit.
“If the air-conditioning units are up on the roof and are running 24/7 and there’s neighbors within earshot, we got an issue, right?” he said, Pedron they would have to be muffled in some way.
Gokorsch also suggested buying a quieter unit.
Pedron said there would be isolators on the equipment and Bouch asked him to consider redesigning the air conditioning and using a unit with a side discharge.
At the October meeting, Pedron said his calculations of how loud the units might be in a vacuum with no other noises indicate that once a person reaches the property line, it would be beyond the realm of human perception.
