Charter School Stumbles in Approval Process
A charter school wants to relocate to Brooklyn Park. The undisclosed school applied for a conditional use permit near an apartment complex on West Broadway. But some neighbors say putting the school there would cause traffic problems and could be dangerous for the kids.
“There’s drugs and shooting going on at that apartment building,” says Sara Kelso. “That has ended up in our front driveway and in our grass. There’s been drugs left in our front yard.”
But it was concern over traffic that pushed the Brooklyn Park Planning Commission to vote against the charter school application. That stretch of West Broadway, just south of I-694, already has a fair amount of traffic on it, including bus traffic from other area schools. Commissioners and neighbors alike were concerned that bus and parent traffic from an additional school would just make matters worse.
Commissioner Amy Hanson said “I have a lot of concerns around traffic, and I don’t feel like we have a plan. Or know what the plan is.”
Neighbor Kelso agreed. “I don’t know how many cars fly around those buses already as is,” she said. “I’m hearing honking all in the morning ’cause of that.”
With the application rejected by the Planning Commission, it’s next step is before the Brooklyn Park City Council. That body can still approve the measure despite the Planning Commission’s no-vote.
