On Tuesday, the Cortez City Council approved a conditional use permit that would allow Children’s Kiva Montessori School to move to Empire Street, even though the school doesn’t yet own the property where they want to move.
Nathaniel Seeley, president of the school’s board of directors, and Stacey Weyland, the current property owner’s agent, applied for a conditional use permit at the beginning of the month, hoping to eventually turn a church and gymnasium on 2306 and 2310 E. Empire Street into the Kiva’s new home. The permit was approved by the planning and zoning board, but by the time they brought it before the city council in a public hearing, Seeley and Weyland admitted that it was looking less likely they would be able to purchase the two buildings. Despite this and other uncertainties about the school’s long-term plans for the property, the council voted unanimously to approve the permit.
The buildings are currently occupied by Cortez Christian Church and Stormy’s Gymnastics, which are leasing the property from Cortez Partners LLC. Seeley said that when the school first submitted its application, they believed neither tenant planned to renew their lease after the expiration date in December. They’ve since learned that, while the church may move to a new location soon, the gymnastics academy has no plans to leave. But Seeley said the school’s leadership still hopes to work something out with the current tenants.
“This is something we’d like to proceed with,” he said. “I can’t tell you for sure this is where we’ll be next year. It’s entirely possible that in a couple of weeks we’ll be back here with another proposal ... but right now this is our first choice.”
The council members questioned Seeley and Weyland about whether they planned to set up a school zone on Empire Street, whether they had reached out to Empire Street residents who could be affected by the move and other issues. While Weyland said the school had received positive feedback from several potential neighbors, many details about the proposed location, such as school zones, fencing and playground equipment, are still up in the air.
Seeley said his original plan was to convert the buildings to a school over the summer and move in later in the year. But he said several parts of that plan turned out to be more expensive or time-consuming than the school board originally expected, so they’ve had to change their strategy. Now they hope to convert the property in stages, starting with the church and extending to the gym if possible.
“This honestly all came up within the last week,” Weyland said.
Since they now expect construction to last longer than they originally planned, Seeley asked if the council could extend the permit to 18 months, instead of the standard year.
Council members debated whether it would be better to approve the conditional use permit in case the school is able to acquire the property in time, or ask them to resubmit it when they have a more concrete plan.
“It kind of gets a little messy if you’re not on this track, with when you’re getting the gym versus the church,” City Planner Tracie Hughes said.
But one person with a personal stake in the conditional use permit spoke up in favor of it during the public comment section of the hearing. Kent Barnhurst, a student at the Kiva, said he thought the school needed to move because “there’s not enough space” at the current location on Beech Street.
Ultimately the council decided to approve the permit, with the extended deadline and several conditions recommended by the planning and zoning board, including a request for the school to consider adding a crosswalk to Empire Street.