Coral Gables commissioners gave final approval this week to a compromise on the controversial expansion of a charter school off Segovia Street.

The City Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to allow Somerset Academy at Gables to expand from 110 to 260 students on its site leased from University Baptist Church, 624 Anastasia Ave. That’s far fewer than the 700 students the school originally requested for the 2 1/2-acre site — a proposal that neighbors said would cause a traffic and safety nightmare.

Tuesday’s vote made final the commission’s tentative approval of the deal on Dec. 13.

As part of the deal, the neighborhood association and school both agreed to drop lawsuits pending against the city in connection with the school.

An attorney for the Biltmore Neighborhood Association, Tucker Gibbs, and academy lawyer Laura Russo said they were satisfied with the settlement.

“We have an agreement with the neighborhood association and the school and the neighbors worked together to try to make sure the impact of the school on the neighbors will be minimal,” Russo said. “Everyone is happy with the outcome.”

“We have come to an agreement with the school. We are pleased,” Gibbs said, noting the familiar legal saying that good compromise solutions usually result in give and take that leaves few truly thrilled.

Added Paul Zamek, president of the academy’s Parents Association: “We learned a lot about each other through this process and that’s a sign of a good compromise. Everyone walks away wanting more but what stands before you is two years of work and we’re pleased with the settlement agreement.”

The city’s planning director, Eric Riel Jr., said the city would still conduct a traffic study with its own consultants at the start of the next school year to determine whether to go with a three- or two-dismissals policy to minimize impact on the nearby residents along Segovia Street.

Commissioners unanimously rejected the academy’s request for a land-use change after City Attorney Craig E. Leen advised that this step wasn’t necessary for the school’s expansion. The city has a precedent of allowing churches to host schools, such as St. Thomas and St. Theresa, both on sites with the same “religious/institutional” land-use designation as University Baptist.

“So the practice would allow you to follow precedent and keep it as a religious institution. My legal opinion is you do not have to make a land-use change to approve the zoning or site plan ordinance,” Leen told the commission.

Several residents still urged the council to deny the school’s expansion altogether. One questioned whether the charter school would follow the Miami-Dade public school policy of a required physical education component. Somerset may not use the nearby Youth Center. Somerset Principal Suzette Ruiz said that her school would be in compliance with curriculum of traditional public schools and that would include PE onsite.

“There is space available to conduct PE classes,” Ruiz said.

Resident Albert Sanchez argued that Somerset wasn’t relieving overcrowded public schools in the area since the problem doesn’t exist. “This school is not appealing to local public schools but to children in private schools,” he said. “This is one which caters to parents who send their children to private school, hardly what we envisioned.”

Commissioner Maria Anderson also expressed her personal reservations directly to the residents who urged the council to vote against the school. But she said she must vote based on the facts and not personal opinion. The commission’s decision was “quasi-judicial,” meaning that commissioners are required to act like judges and make their decisions based on the facts.

“I’m not a big fan of charter schools. I don’t care for them,” she said. “But they are the law and allowed. And I don’t like the way this came about, it still troubles me. But we reached the best possible compromise and, sorry if I let you down today, but I’ll be voting for that. I feel this is a compromise I can live with.”