Litigation regarding proposed Quaker Valley High School continues in Allegheny County Court

Attorneys for and against a proposed Quaker Valley High School in Leet will plead their case before an Allegheny County Court judge in October.

Kathy Lederman, law clerk for Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge Joseph James, confirmed all parties involved filed briefs Aug. 29.

The legal battle surrounds the township zoning hearing board’s denial earlier this year of the district’s special exception application to build a new high school.

Lederman said a hearing for oral arguments will be scheduled next month.

The school district wants to build a high school of about 167,000 square feet on about 150 acres of land off Camp Meeting Road. Project costs were estimated between $90 million and $100 million.

About 650 students would be enrolled.

Leet’s zoning hearing board on Feb. 9 denied the district’s application. Its main reason was the lack of an emergency access road for police, fire, and EMS.

District officials had said they did not object to the idea, but that it would be more suitable in a land development plan and not an exception application.

District Solicitor Don Palmer and ZHB Solicitor Vince Restauri Jr. could not be reached for comment as of press time on Sept. 8.

Attorney Lou DePaul represents a pair of petitioners whose claims include “the proposed use is dangerous, injurious, and noxious to property and persons within Leet Township; the proposed location is not more suitable than other properties in Leet Township (and) the proposed location is objectively not suitable,” according to court documents.

DePaul said further information about his clients’ objections was available in the filings and declined further comment Sept. 7.

Brief summary

In DePaul’s filing, he argues the district “cannot succeed on this land use appeal unless it proves that the ZHB committed an error of law or manifestly abused its discretion.”

The school district’s filing states the township’s zoning ordinance “is completely silent as to any requirement that an (emergency-only road) be provided,” and that “the ZHB does not reference any specific criteria not met by the application.”

Public hearings began in late June 2021. There were multiple hearings in the evenings and at least two all-day events, resulting in about 40 hours of public discussion.

Attorneys and residents, both in favor and against the project, also had a chance to file briefs and other written comments after closing arguments were taken on Nov. 30.

Quaker Valley stated in its briefs that “ZHB’s conclusions of law concerning an emergency-only road are speculative, contradictory and without any foundation in the record.”

ZHB legal filings state the “health-safety-welfare issue” of the emergency-only road is because of the district’s proposed use.

“The EOR is a land use matter precisely because it is an issue solely created by QVSD’s decision to use the land for a new public high school, as opposed to something else,” Restauri wrote. “Factually, there is only one road that would service the proposed school. There are two driveways off that road to the school, but there is, in fact, only one road to the school — Camp Meeting Road.

“If steep Camp Meeting Road is blocked in either or both directions up and down to the school during an active shooting or an explosion, the First Responders will lose precious minutes in reaching the school. The number of driveways is beside the point. First responders must be able to reach them as quickly as possible.”

There is no timetable for a court ruling on the matter.

The Allegheny County Court’s decision could be appealed to a state appellate court.

District officials had hoped to have the new school built and ready for students by the 2025-26 school year.

Those plans have since been altered due to the legal battle. The new hope is to have construction begin in 2025 with doors being opened in the fall of 2027.

Meanwhile

In the meantime, district officials continue to work with residents and architects through the project’s schematic design process.

“There is still work being done as it is an iterative process, but this initial step of sharing the design is a nod to the work of many staff members who provided input last spring,” Superintendent Tammy Andreyko said. “We continue to welcome ideas and recommendations from Sustainable Sewickley in an effort to design a building that is responsible and future-ready.

“We will continue to work with the architects to explore Net Zero Energy Ready standards in the new high school, as it is a priority in the design process.”

The latest design update was posted on the presentations section of the “School Board” tab of the district’s website, qvsd.org.

About 30 people walked the grounds on Aug. 2 as part of several tours offered by the district earlier this year.

They were led by district director of facilities Charlie Gauthier, along with BSHM architect Kate Spires and Phillips & Associates principal Geoffrey C. Phillips.

It is unclear if more group tours would be scheduled.

The school, itself, would be about 300 to 400 feet off of Camp Meeting Road, and about 300 feet from what was called a “performance field.”

The field would be green space and used for sports like soccer. No stadium is planned for the site.

Officials said they have yet to decide what to do with a large three-story brick home that sits next to the proposed field.

People can contact the district at 412-749-3600 and request a visit of the site.