The closing of the private Ensign School in American Fork has city officials thinking about what happens to old school buildings when they no longer hold students.

Members of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission have been considering changes in the city's development code to help prevent problems with school buildings that are no longer in use. The city can't control where a public school is located, but it does have a say in the building's use once the school is gone.

The issue arose with the closure Ensign, a private school based on principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located at 200 North and Center Street, the school is in two zones -- the professional office zone and the residential zone.

Under current laws, schools that teach standard curriculum, as opposed to specialty schools, are permissible in all residential zones. Some have considered placing all schools -- traditional public, charter and private -- in a public facilities zone instead of a residential zone.

Planner Rod Despain said that charter schools are permitted by state law to be placed in any zone.

"In effect, the role of the city is limited to attaching certain design and access requirements, but not where they can go," he wrote in a memo to the Planning Commission.

He said the city has an option of being able to control the subsequent use of an abandoned school facility.

"In short, we may not have a voice in where a school is located, but we sure would if the private owner of the public school building wanted to use it for something else after the school is gone," he wrote.

He said the city is able to put health and safety requirements on a site plan.

Commissioner Joe Gordon said one main question about allowing a large building in a residential zone would be traffic.

"Traffic flow is a real concern," he said. He suggested that a site plan be a requirement in that situation, but Despain said it already was.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B3.