Elon’s town council has agreed to rewrite the town’s development rules to let Elon University repurpose one of its old residence halls as an elementary school for dyslexic children.
The town council voted 4-to-1 in favor of this proposal on Monday so the university can temporarily establish this specialty school within the Trollinger House – a decommissioned dorm in Elon’s downtown development district.
Dubbed Roberts Academy in honor of its primary patrons, this school will ultimately serve up to 200 children a year when its permanent home opens on Elon’s main campus in 2028.
Until then, the university plans to accommodate the academy’s inaugural students at the Trollinger House in time for the start of the next school year this fall.
In order to facilitate the dorm’s proposed transformation, a majority of the council has agreed to add a provision to the town’s land management ordinance that allows the “adaptive reuse” of buildings in the downtown development district for elementary schools that serve no more than 50 students.
The university’s representatives had initially pitched this rule change to the council two weeks ago in order to circumvent setback and buffer requirements that currently apply to new land uses within Elon’s downtown. The university had also hoped to avoid the lengthy review process that accompanies other, more orthodox options like variances or conditional zoning requests.
The university’s request for a rule change nevertheless raised the eyebrows of Elon’s mayor Emily Sharpe when the matter first came before the council two weeks ago.
Concerned that the university’s request amounted to a special pleading, Sharpe advised the rest of the council to reject the proposed regulatory provision.
In the meantime, councilman Michael Woods asked the town’s planning staff to investigate how other communities have handled similar dilemmas before the council renders its final decision on the university’s request.
Town planner Isabell Cooper returned to the council on Monday with the results of this interjurisdictional survey. Cooper informed the town’s leaders that, in order to accommodate elementary schools that don’t fit neatly into their development rules, most other communities have relied either on special use permits or conditional zoning. In Elon’s case, a variance could be pursued in lieu of a special use permit, although Cooper noted that it would demand a lengthy quasijudicial procedure as well as a nod from the town’s staff-level technical review committee. Conditional zoning would likewise require technical review – unlike the university’s requested change to the town’s unified development ordinance.
Although a professional obligation prevented Sharpe from attending Monday’s proceedings, her concerns about the university’s proposed rule change were echoed that evening by mayor pro tem Monti Allison.
“My concern is about where the school is going to be,” Allison said prior to the council’s decision. “We’ve spent a lot of time on the ‘land management ordinance’ and on how we want the downtown core to be like,” he added, “and it seems like we’re taking this and creating another option with no consideration for neighboring residents.”
In response to Allison’s concerns, councilman Quinn Ray said that the potential benefits of the new elementary school have eased his own scruples over the irregularity of the university’s request.
“I do question where this puts us moving forward,” he acknowledged. “But overall, I think it is a great thing that Elon [University] is doing.”
Ray went on to join councilmen Randy Orwig, Michael Woods, and Steve Exum in the 4-to-1 decision to approve the request.
Allison cast the lone vote of dissent in this matter.
