Group appeals decision approving Franklin Regional elementary school project
A group of Franklin Regional School District residents has appealed an approval by Murrysville council of the school district’s elementary expansion plan.
Franklin Regional officials received conditional-use approval in October for a $54 million project to renovate Sloan Elementary School and turn it into a building serving kindergarten through second grade, as well as build an elementary school on the 98-acre Sloan property for students in grades 3 to 5.
A group called Sloan Project Concerned Citizens filed the appeal in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court. Attorneys for the group could not be immediately reached for comment, but the court documents contend Murrysville council members erred in multiple ways, including:
• “Failing to consider the ramifications of poor roadway access for emergency response personnel … and failing to consider that in an emergency, hundreds of parents would attempt to pick up their children, further congesting the area and preventing emergency response.”
• “Failing to impose reasonable conditions and/or imposing conditions inadequate to address the negative impact on the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Murrysville.”
• “Granting a conditional use for a proposed development that is vastly oversized and not harmonious with the surrounding zoning district and landscape.”
Several of the grounds listed for appeal reference the municipal zoning code, and residents objecting to the project frequently cited phrases such as “health, safety and welfare” and a provision that new developments be “harmonious” with their surroundings.
The citizen group is asking the court to deny the district’s application. If that is not an option, “SPCC demands additional, stringent conditions necessary for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of Murrysville residents and (d)istrict residents and personnel,” the appeal states.
Murrysville solicitor George Kotjarapoglus could not be immediately reached for comment. The school district is not listed as a defendant in the appeal.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MurrysvilleStar.
