The Richardson City Plan Commission recommended approval for a special permit during its Aug. 7 meeting. The permit would allow Coram Deo Academy, a Christian private school, to relocate its existing Dallas campus to Richardson.
The gist
According to city documents, Coram Deo would be allowed to have up to 748 students enrolled within its Richardson campus. School officials said the plan is to purchase, renovate and utilize the existing building at 1301 Abrams Road, which is occupied by Binneri Presbyterian Church.
Senior Planner Derica Peters said the school plans to have no more than 400 students on campus at any given time because of the university-style model of the school and staggered attendance by students.
Jon Jordan, headmaster of Coram Deo’s Dallas campus, said there were some modifications to the traffic flow out of the property during drop-off and pick-up times, including prohibiting left turns onto Abrams Road. The school is open to working with Richardson police, similar to how it works with Dallas police to control traffic at those times, he added.
Some context
The city plan commission previously recommended approval of a special permit for the school in March.
Richardson City Council denied the special permit request in April citing concerns about traffic, future development and negative impacts to Richardson ISD. School officials said they have worked to address the concerns in their modified proposal.
Coram Deo currently has other campuses in Flower Mound and Plano.
What’s next?
After the recommendation for approval, the request once again will go before council members. A public hearing for the new request is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 26.
