Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
DASD PLANS TO SEIZE LAND FOR POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
School board votes 6-3 in favor of eminent domain plan
EAST CALN » Downingtown Area School District is moving forward with plans to expand.
On Feb. 12 at its monthly public meeting, the Board of Education voted 6-3 in favor of approving a resolution to gain land for potential future development of a new school along Brandywine Avenue.
According to the resolution, the district has the “right and power of eminent domain” to seize the property.
Jane Bertone, board president, and board members Linda MacNeal and David Kring cast ‘no’ votes against the measure to acquire the “desirable” land.
Businessman Harry Miller III owns the property, composed of four acres, in East Caln Township. Today, he operates a propane business there and commercial space for retail.
“What is the urgency in taking a taxpayer’s property by eminent domain?” MacNeal asked her fellow board members and the superintendent.
She said the district had not fully explored other reasonable alternatives. Kring concurred. “Rushing into these things before we have a lot of answers could cost a lot of money. It could cost a lot of time and pain,” Kring said. “I think we haven’t looked at a lot of the alternatives. We never really had a discussion on some of the other land that we have.”
During the past seven years, student enrollment increased by more than 10 percent, according to Jennifer Shealy, director of communications for the school district.
“Projections indicate that this upward trend will continue,” Shealy said. “Housing developments continue to be built throughout the district. A rise in housing brings an increased number of children and an increased responsibility of the district to provide for their education.”
Miller’s property is under appraisal by the district.
Downingtown has been working with Miller to assist him in relocating his business enterprise to another location, according to Shealy.
“After due diligence investigation, the district has determined that the two residential properties located adjacent to the larger parcel are not necessary to any potential building plans, and the district will not proceed with the acquisition of those parcels,” Shelley said.
While there are 16 schools as part of the district, all sixth grade students attend one school called the Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center. Some children spend more than an hour on the school bus getting there thanks to ever increasing traffic and ongoing congestion issues on regional roadways.
“Through realigning grade levels, this project could help alleviate transportation issues while addressing future overcrowding in our district,” said Superintendent Emilie Lonardi in a press release by the district regarding the Feb. 12 vote to acquire Miller’s property for potential future development of a new school.
The superintendent continued, “Space is required to reach our instructional vision and to allow for the programs and opportunities that support them.”
Last fall, Downingtown Area School District officials unanimously voted in favor of a resolution on Nov. 13 that would allow the district to consider the purchase of property, owned by Miller, in East Caln.
In November, the school board members did not vote on taking the land by the eminent domain process, as previously reported by the Daily Local News.
Lonardi said the Miller property was desirable because one of the most common complaints the superintendent receives is regarding how long the school bus commute is for students attending the Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center in Uwchlan Township.
The students have to travel from the north and the south to get to the school, and another school would shorten the school bus commute for students. More than 1,100 students attend Marsh Creek.
“The actual location would be the most desirable for our needs,” Lonardi said.
Miller’s property along Brandywine Avenue sits near the district’s headquarters on Trestle Place.
In November, Bertone, board president, noted that there have been an additional 1,000 students in the school district over the past four years. Further, there are several housing developments in the area which will continue to increase the school population.
“Our growth is rapid, and it’s at all levels,” Bertone said on Nov. 13.
Besides a sixth grade center, Downingtown Area School District is home to 10 elementary schools, two middle schools and three high schools.
The school board president told the public on Nov. 13 that the consideration of purchasing the property and the construction of a school will take time, just as it has in the past when the district built a few new schools.
As previously reported in the Daily Local News, Springton Manor Elementary School opened in 2007. The district bought the property in the 1960s. Shamona Creek Elementary School, which opened in 1990, and the Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center, which opened in 2014, sit on parcels that were both purchased in the 1980s.
As for the Feb. 12 resolution approved 6-3 by the school board on Feb. 12, it is in response to current and future academic and enrollment needs, Shealy added.
The Downingtown Area School District is scheduled to next meet before the public 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, at 540 Trestle Place in East Caln Township.
For more information, visit www.dasd.org.