Keith Dmochowski, Reading Eagle, Pa.
·4 min read
Antietam School District students will be heading back to school in person, after a Berks County Court ruling restored zoning relief for the district’s post-flood building plan.
In a pair of orders issued Wednesday, Judge James D. Gavin granted the district’s requests for special exceptions to use the former Mount Penn Primary Center and Mount Penn Elementary Center.
The district’s building plan — devised after Antietam lost its middle senior high school to a flood in July 2023 — proposes housing grades nine through 12 in the former primary center, now called Antietam High School, and grades four through eight in the former elementary center, renamed the Kerry C. Hoffman Intermediate School.
Antietam had its initial requests for zoning relief granted in March by the Mount Penn Zoning Hearing Board.
However, Mount Penn residents George Saltzman and Jennifer Lopez appealed the zoning hearing board’s decision, resulting in the zoning relief being revoked and throwing into question whether Antietam would be able to educate many students in person at the start of the 2024-25 school year.
That question now appears to be answered, as Gavin’s rulings restore the special exceptions in full and grant the former primary center variances from a rule that requires a specific number of parking spaces per student.
The appeals
Saltzman and Lopez have long maintained the district’s plans for the primary and elementary centers would cause issues with traffic and parking and pose a threat to safety.
In the appeals, Saltzman and Lopez claimed the board failed to properly consider multiple points of evidence, from residents’ testimony to the effect the building plans would have on the neighborhood’s character.
Gavin’s ruling is less critical of the district’s post flood-efforts.
Gavin notes that Antietam has been placed in the unenviable position of having to find a way to educate students after losing a critical piece of infrastructure.
“Confronted with the devastation of a natural disaster, the school district faced the challenges prudently, and cautiously proceeded in a manner designed to best serve the children,” Gavin said in the ruling.
The ruling notes that Saltzman and Lopez didn’t argue that the primary and elementary center couldn’t be used schools, but instead mostly took issue with the district’s proposal to expand the grade levels allowed in each building.
Gavin noted that Mount Penn’s zoning rules define “school” broadly, and that the grade levels proposed for each building have no effect on whether the building itself can be used as a school.
He said the court has thoroughly reviewed the credible evidence and found that Antietam’s post-flood plans meet Mount Penn’s requirements to be granted zoning relief.
The one stipulation that the primary center’s plans don’t meet has to do with parking, Gavin noted.
Mount Penn’s zoning rules require the district to provide a certain amount of off-street parking for each student.
Gavin cites a past ruling in state Commonwealth Court that notes the building’s topography and location make developing more off-street parking extremely difficult.
The only way the district could make room for more parking is to partially demolish the primary center, which would be economically unfeasible, according to the Commonwealth Court ruling.
“In 21 years since the Commonwealth Court’s decision, the physical circ*mstances at the subject property have not changed,” Gavin said in the ruling. “The subject property presents significant challenges such that the granting of variances is necessary for (its reasonable use.)”
In a statement Thursday, Dr. Timothy Matlack, superintendent, noted that although questions remain about the 2024-25 start date, the ruling at least provides clarity that the district’s buildings can be used as planned.
“The district will now continue pouring our efforts into getting the buildings prepared to receive students,” Matlack said. “We will send an update after the special meeting on (Aug. 19) to communicate how the district calendar may be adjusted for a shift in start dates.”
Collapse update
In a previous update, Matlack also noted that AEM Architects, Reiffton, conducted a review of the entryway collapse at the former primary center in June.
The review found that prior renovations to the building in 2004 were completed and inspected according to code.
“AEM is unaware of any incomplete or missing work that rendered the building unsafe prior to commencement of construction activities carried out this summer,” AEM’s report said.
Matlack noted that contractors would be blocking off the entryway while repairs are finished.
“Ultimately, we want to stress that safety is and always will be our top priority,” Matlack said.
