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Home My WebLink AboutCUP 85B; Pilgrim Congregational Church; Conditional Use Permit (CUP) (28)t ?- June 5, 1997 Bill Compas Planning Commission, City of Carlsbad 2075 Las Palmas Drive Carlsbad, CA 92009 Dear Commissioner Compas: I understand that the Planning Commission will be having a hearing on Wednesday, July 2nd at 6:OO P.M. regarding renewal of the conditional use permit for Pilgrim Children's Center. I would like to be there to help present the case for its renewal but I will not be able to attend as I will be out of California at that time. Enclosed are copies of information printed in our Church's monthly news bulletin, Pilgrim's Progress and our annual report that I believe you will find interesting. In my opinion, if what the neighbor who has complained about noise from the Childrens Center wants is a wall between his place and the Center the wall would have to be at least 20 feet high because the bedroom is on the second floor of the house. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, +e. T.&,/w Roger E. Fox, M.D. 3905 Park Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 7 20-.3 79 3 I NEIGHBOR COMPLAINS ABOUT PILGRIM CHILDREN’S CENTER NOISE - I CITY TO RECONSIDER OUR USE PERMIT Last Fall, one of the neighbors whose property is adja- cent to our Children’s Center went to the City of Carlsbad to complain about noise. He contacted us and a meeting was arranged between that neighbor and our Moderator, Vice-Moderator, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Chil- dren’s Center Liaison Representative, and three staff: the Director of the Children’s Center, our Facilities Coordina- tor and the Minister. This neighbor was encouraged to invite any other neighbors WHO had concerns to join him, but no one took him up on that offer. He moved into his house after the Children’s Center was already in operation so he knew there was a pre-school next to his backyard. His own daughter attended our Children’s Center. Recently he remodeled his house, relocating his bedroom right next to the Center’s back fence. He only complained of noise after that remodeling After the meeting with the church officers, a four-page memo listed all of neighbor’s complaints and the actions the church would take to address them. We did indeed take those actions. One of the concerns we expressed to the neighbor was that if he heard noise at night from the custodian, gar- dener or floor cleaning crews, he would need to let us know that. We urged him to call at any hour and leave a message for our Facilities Coordinator who would imme- diately investigate the problem. During the next three months, he did not call us once. As a matter of fact, he still has not called to report any incident of noise. - r. of Carlsbad and filed a complaint, We offered again to meet with him But he did not even respond to that offer So now the Planning Commission will reconsider our Conditional Use Permit. City staff will recommend that we be forced to build a concrete wall to separate our Center from his property. This was clearly what he desired all along. He did not really want us to address noise prob- lems; he wanted to force us into building his wall. The cost of such a wall would be considerable, and it is likely that other neighbors might want similar walls and we would have to completely enclose the Center. Reconsid- eration of our Conditional Use Permit also means the cit can change the hours of our operation, the number of children, or any other facet of our building use. Depend- ing on the conditions the Plannina Commission attaches to the renewal of our Conditional Use Permit, the Church miqht have to reconsider the operation of the Center. 1 I 1’ , :* .. i Then in January he asked us to schedule another meet- ing We did so, but he canceled Then he went to the City IO AMW~ Report from Pilgrim Children’s Center Throughout 1996, our goals focused on continued improvement of our high quality programs for children and their families through our scholarship program, parent enrichment, Accreditation, increased enrollment of children with special needs, and professional growth of OUT staff. In order to increase our scholarships, we had to ascertain an increased tuition base. This seemed to be a formidable task. Through a little creative scheduling and flexibility, we maintained full enrollment throughout the year, thereby increasing our income. This made it possible to offer a total of $45,787.00 in scholarships during 1996. The breadth of scholarships expanded to include not only single parent and low income families, but also families facing acute financial crisis, victims of domestic violence, a medically fragile child, and children with special needs varying from Attention DeficiVHyperactivity Disorder to Down‘s Syndrome. One very special placement was made for a child attending the Communication Center at Magnolia Elementary school. Although he was deaf and had developmental delays, we had the pleasure of watching him dramatically change from a child just learning to walk to one who demanded independence! Communication with him required us to learn limited sign language. This was a perfect opportunity to model acceptance of children with different abilities. With our excellent reputation in the community and improved professional relationship with Carlsbad School District, we increased the number of identified children with special needs who were referred to us by their specialists. By working with Carlsbad High School, we established ourselves as a training site for students in the Regional Occupational Program. The students, interested in pursuing careers in Early Childhood Education, spent several months learning first hand the challenges and rewards of our profession. Because these students faced special challenges of deafness, cerebral palsy, or limited English, they provided an excellent model of inclusion and acceptance of diversity for the children. Several aspects of the physical environment also improved. The most obvious change occurred in March when the existing accordion walls came down and new, moveable walls installed. This required close cooperation and coordination with volunteers from Pilgrim Church. Through the combined efforts of several fathers at the Center, the old decks were removed, a new one built, two small climbing structures and two balance beams added to the playground, and the entire inside of the building repainted. Part of our long range plans included planting three small trees on the playground for shade and aesthetic appeal. The biggest professional undertaking of 1996 was seeking Accreditation from the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs. This process included an extensive self study of the program by the staff, parents, and director of Pilgrim Children’s Center. After months of observation, adjustments and improvements, the documentation was filed, a validator visited and Accreditation was achieved! With’ this honor comes the responsibility of continued growth of all aspects of the programs, including increased professional growth through staff inservice training and college classes. Traditions are a big part of Pilgrim Children’s Center. Our annual trip to the Zoo, End-of-the Year Party, Thanksgiving Feast, Parent Night Out, and Holiday Craft Faire are all events that staff and families count on. The children themselves have begun new traditions of gathering pennies to give to those less fortunate, or to preserve acres of Rainforest or Coral Reef. The staff‘s new tradition is their annual retreat in the Spring. 4 Our most important tradition is that of providing the best possible experience for every child every day. With improved communication with the boards and congregation of Pilgrim church, we were able to combine long-range planning, focusing on goals for 1997. These goals include continued parental support through on-going enrichment, continued improvement of the playgrounds, continued program improvements that meet NAEYC Accreditation Criterion. Ann M. Allen, Director