Bellaire still has work to do after granting Post Oak School permit

Though approved unanimously, the Montessori school’s revised special use permit divided council members as they weighed pros and cons of potential conditions to attach to the SUP and alleviate long-standing concerns over school traffic and street parking. A proposed cap on future enrollment was defeated, 3-4, as over-regulation; but a specific new parking requirement, to be verified annually, was narrowly approved, 4-3. The mandate requires the school to have off-street parking spaces equal to the number of daytime staff.

In addition, neighbors who sought relief from overflow parking on their residential streets won approval for permit parking on the 4500 block of Wedgewood Drive and the 900 block of Wildwood Lane between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. City officials anticipate the restrictions, similar to those surrounding Bellaire High School, to be in place by April 1.

Still, Donna Rickenbacker, who led the petition effort for the parking restrictions, predicted the actions won’t go far enough if residents can’t get in or out of the neighborhood due to increasing traffic generated not just by Post Oak but also by nearby public and private schools.

In a letter to city officials, Head of School John Long listed steps that have been taken already to address neighbors’ concerns. He also asked the city’s help to declare a school zone on Bissonnet and Avenue B, make Avenue B one-way during school drop-off and pick-up times and adjust street-light timing at that intersection.

As a result, Bellaire Public Works Department is expected to perform a traffic study of the area soon, and Post Oak School has agreed to help pay for it, City Manager Bernie Satterwhite said. The city did similar studies in the past at Condit and Horn elementary schools, he noted. It will examine if Avenue B should be a one-way street during school drop-off and pick-up times, he said.

Additional enrollment is not expected with the proposed expansion at Post Oak School, which will add a 13,000-square-foot second story on part of the building and renovate about 24,000 square feet of existing space. Rather, the project will add space for teacher and administrative support, a new parenting classroom, music room and middle school science lab. Construction would be completed mostly during the next two summers.

The highly-regarded school serves children aged 14 months through eighth grade. Post Oak School also has a high school located in Houston’s Museum District.

Current enrollment is 401, and Long, in his letter, said the number might shift year-to-year between 380 to 440.

Councilman Andrew Friedberg suggested an enrollment cap of 450 to further protect the neighboring residential areas and prevent the existing traffic situation from getting “significantly worse.” The school could return to City Council later to change it, he offered.

But Mayor Phil Nauert and council members Roman Reed, James Avioli Sr. and Pat McLaughlan rejected the idea.

“I’m totally against capping. This is over-regulation, and it sends the wrong message,” said Reed.

Avioli and Nauert predicted Post Oak won’t get much larger anyway and risk the quality of its instructional program.

“Post Oak School knows better than anyone else what their product is,” the mayor said.

But Nauert did agree with Friedberg, Mayor Pro Tem Mandy Nathan and Councilman Corbett Parker to require that Post Oak School maintain enough off-street parking to accommodate its daytime staff and that the school verify it is meeting that condition of its SUP annually.

Post Oak School meets existing parking requirements based on its number of classrooms, but Nathan pointed out the school doesn’t have an auditorium, which would require an additional parking space for every four seats.