04-06-1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View Planning Commission April 6, 1988 Regular Meeting Page Four "' City Planner Herman explained that one of the reasons the church is having this problem is because they are expand- ing, and it is recognized that the building is not capable of holding all the people they want. Chairman Mountin stated she was very concerned with moving the children through d bottleneck in an emergency, and she also notedthe expansion would exceed the parking and site capacity. Commissioner Peters asked if this expansion would require a fire inspection. City Planner Herman replied it would not, as the maximum capacity of the building itself would still be met. Commissioner Miller noted they are not up to capacity now in the number of students per square foot. Mr. Baer explained they have only 20 students per class now, but the enrollment is increasing. Councilmember Wuori stated she was concerned with the amount of time necessary to evacuate the classrooms in the event of an emergency, especially with having to °Mr. go through other classrooms to get out. Baer noted the classrooms are very small, and he feels they can be evacuated in about 30 seconds, and he also pointed out there is an outside fire escape off one of the second floor classrooms. Commissioner Miller stated that being a school teacher herself, she feels more students are always put in a classroom than should be. Commissioner Saunders stated he was concerned with the evacuation process in the event of an emergency, but he was not overly concerned with the square footage requirement, which calculated out to about 3 more children per classroom. Mr. Baer offered to have the fire drill figures available to the Council by the time this would reach them. Chairman Mountin recommended asking the Fire Department to look into it and report back. Commissioner Zoller stated she was concerned with exceeding the limits and creating hazards, and stated she would •prefer the 35 square foot requirement per student.