Quaker Valley School District yet to respond to Leet board's denial of school-related application

The future of a proposed Quaker Valley high school is uncertain as school district officials continue to mull over a denial by the Leet zoning hearing board.

The board unanimously voted to deny the district’s special exception application for the project on Feb. 9 — however, board members said they would be willing to approve the district’s application provided it be amended to include an emergency access road to and from the property.

The proposed school is on 150 acres of land off Camp Meeting Road. It straddles Leet, Edgeworth and Leetsdale.

A hearing was scheduled for 7 p.m. March 9 at the township building should the district file an amendment to the application.

Board solicitor Vince Restauri said no amendment had been filed as of Feb. 23.

“They could appear on March 9 with it,” Restauri said. “I don’t think they will do that. I think the school district will do everything it can to let us know ahead of time so we can plan.”

The zoning board’s approval would also come with a multitude of conditions, including crafting a developer’s agreement with the township and the district and having the downhill property owners named on the district’s general liability insurance policy.

Its decision and conditions were posted on the township’s website, leettownship.org.

The district may choose to appeal the denial to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas if an amended application is not filed.

District officials remain optimistic about the proposed school but have not confirmed what action it would take to address the zoning hearing board’s actions.

“The district remains committed to the high school project and is in the process of reviewing the motion and determining appropriate next steps,” Quaker Valley communications director Angela Conigliaro said on Feb. 23.

The project was brought up at the school board’s Feb. 15 meeting.

No official action in response to the zoning hearing board was taken at that time.

Board member Gianni Floro said there are ongoing meetings with educators, stakeholders and many others involved in the proposed high school project.

“That is an ongoing process,” Floro said. “It takes quite a bit of time to design a high school that’s going to last another 100 years. We’re very thankful for our partners that include the architects, civil engineers, construction program service providers and things of that nature.”

He also commended the teachers and administrators for their contributions toward the project and its potential educational programming.

“That’s really going to guide much of the design of this building, how it’s going to impact future learning and be future-ready,” Floro said.

School board president Jonathan Kuzma said many district officials attended the zoning hearing board meeting online and were recently made aware of its posted ruling.

“We’re continuing to be committed to the process and to the site,” Kuzma said. “Until I have a chance to really review and discuss with our solicitor what those conditions entail, I can’t really comment on whether or not they are reasonable at this time.”

Charlie Gauthier, district director of facilities, said he could not comment until after speaking with others involved in the project.

It was unclear if any public vote to amend the application would need to take place prior March 9, or if the district would ratify any such action at a later time.

The next scheduled school board meeting is a workshop session March 8. The next legislative meeting is March 15.

“There’s plenty of time for us to take any action that’s needed to implement whatever decisions the board makes,” district solicitor Don Palmer said.

The preliminary plan for the school would use about 48 acres for the building and grounds. The site already has 10 acres cleared out, but the district wants to leave a lot of existing growth as a buffer.

No further construction can take place without first obtaining approval from Leet’s zoning hearing board.