Paid Advertisement When Zoning Matters... Top 10 reasons to Build New at 625 Beaver St. Fiscally Responsible - $30-S60+ million cost savings. Lower interest rates = more $ to educate our children 2. Our kids could start moving-in 2025-2026 3. Students can stay in the existing high school with staged 1. construction. They move into parts of the new school as they are completed. Arlington High School of Massachusetts doing just that on its urban site. 4. Includes a Stadium 5. Best access choice: keeps the location within walking, biking, and public transportation 6. Eliminate the geotechnical and excess water risks to First and foremost, zoning ordinances are meant to help promote the basic welfare, safety and public health. They also ensure development fits in with the character of the neighborhood. For example: QVSD originally designed a site plan in 2019 with construction of tennis courts and a practice field in Edgeworth. Edgeworth ruled the area was in the Conservation Overlay district which is deemed recreation use only. QVSD then had to go back to the drawing board. homeowners in close proximity to the "Hilltop" site 7. No land-slide prone material on site. Just needs to address storm-water manangement which "Hilltop" site does as well 8. No Zoning approvals and minimal site approvals needed. Coupled with much shorter site prep timeline 9. Environmentally the best choice 10. Unites Quaker Valley residents behind a New School! When you compare the top of the slope in Leet Twp. (bordering Edgeworth) where QVSD is proposing to the place the high school, it is comparable to the land Edgeworth placed in a restricted use because of the steep slopes and soil instability So what is the current status of QVSD's application with the Leet Zoning Hearing Board? At these hearings there has been testimony that contradicts QSD's claims of safety In many cases by their own experts. Traffic safety: On Friday Sept. 17, 2021, James French, a Traffic Engineer testified in regard to the safety of Camp Meeting Road and Camp Meeting/Beaver intersection. His conclusion was that it was not safe to build a high school at the hilltop site. He believes that the elevated risk of accidents QVSD's experts from Garvin, Boward, Beitko are sources for this information. Under and injuries would be a significant detriment to the residents of Leet. His biggest concerns were: sight distance to turn from Camp Meeting to Beaver is impaired and the intersection is inadequate, the steep downgrade, very sharp turns, winter driving conditions, additional road deficiencies. Geotechnical: questioning by a homeowner downslope from the site, Mr Phillips confirmed the current site plan does not include additional benching, or removal of colluvial soil to significantly decrease landslide risk. This was removed when QVSB downsized the project from the project of 50 acres. "My understanding was that it was eliminated doing any filling in here because the residents didn't want a slope being built above. But in actuality, we were improving the condition with our slope. " It is unclear which QVSD or QVSB member told GBB that the residents preferred the current slope to remain as is. Note: this area has already had smaller documented slides. Per Mr Phillips if the land was not developed for a high school, "But you still have areas that are going to slide naturally because they've already shown signs that they are going to slide on the slope. On this property" Homeowner atated, "school probably won't wind up in our living room but the hillside could". Mr Phillips, "Over time, yes". Homeowner, "Well, that's comforting. Mr. Phillips," Mr. Phillips, "But you bought that house with that all along." Homeowner, "Thirty years ago I was willing to live with gradual shifting. But if this accelerates it, it's no longer gradual." The report from French quotes the CDC, " the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among teens aged 16 - 19 than among any other age group, In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers in this age group are nearly three times as likely as drivers aged 20 or older to be in a fatal crash." Wooster & Associates, the engineer for QVSD, determined that the average speed of drivers in this 25 mph zone is 34 mph going northbound and 37 mph going southbound. They also meas- ured traffic volume. It was determined that 2800 vehicles travel Camp Meeting each day If the high School is built there, they believe that volume will increase by 1792 vehicles per day for a total of 4592 vehicles. This number does not include any after school or community events. QVSD's traffic engineer testified that they treated 16-19 year old drivers the same as average adult drivers and did not study evening and winter conditions. Once school is completed, 16-19 Mr. Phillips also disclosed the the existing high school building is not in a floodplain. Only year old drivers on Camp Meeting increase 400%. the Stadium, tennis courts, practice field and parking are. Additionally, in their 2013 report they describe the construction of a retaining wall to increase the footprint would not be in a floodplain. Incidents like the recent October 6th collision need to be investigated and addressed before allowing Camp Meeting Rd to be the main road for our students: On October 6th at approximately 4:30 pm, there was a major multi-vehicle collision at the hairpin Timeline: turn by Mrytle Hill Rd. From a resident at the corner of Myrtle, "2 cars collided head on, totaled; drivers lived thanks to airbags; it was the loudest crash I've heard in my 31 years living off that road, with other cars' brakes squealing and a long delay before emergency crews got on the scene..and a long delay before emergency crews got on the scene; only by chance was a trailing fully loaded school bus not involved." Traffic was rerouted many miles through Ambridge since Camp Meeting Rd was closed up and down due to other road closures. Moving into a new school the Summer of 2025 on the Camp Meeting site is extremely unreal- istic given QVSD's failure to meet the timeline they set to get site approvals 10/2019 3/2021. The Zoning application wasn't submitted until 3/24/21. With a best case scenarion assuming no appeals, the earliest move-in Summer 2026. 1/2022 ZHB approval, 8/2022 Planning Comm approval, Site Prep 9/2022 -8/2024, School construction 3/2024 - 8/2026, If there are appeals the move-in could be anytime Summer 2026 - 2031. Next Leet ZHB meeting: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 7 PM Zoom and at Leet Township 194 Ambridge Avenue, Fair Oaks, PA 15003 Want to learn more? Zoning Hearing Board Transcripts are held at Leet Township. https://staticl.squarespace.com/static/ 5e8s6lec5571062712be6525/1/ 616488316c7aa6790e2 be18/1633970433356/2021+01-29+OGS-French-Safety-Review%SB2%SD.pdf https://ahsbuilding.org/ataglance/preferred-design-conceptdiagrams/njp-carousel-1838 https://www.qvsd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp? UREC_ID-1538858&type-d&pREC_ID=1676145 Paid for by Citizens for a Great School cdags.org | CitizensForAGreatSchoolegmail.com Donations to: CGS P>O> Box 555 I Sewickley, PA 15143 Paid Advertisement When Zoning Matters... Top 10 reasons to Build New at 625 Beaver St. Fiscally Responsible - $30-S60+ million cost savings. Lower interest rates = more $ to educate our children 2. Our kids could start moving-in 2025-2026 3. Students can stay in the existing high school with staged 1. construction. They move into parts of the new school as they are completed. Arlington High School of Massachusetts doing just that on its urban site. 4. Includes a Stadium 5. Best access choice: keeps the location within walking, biking, and public transportation 6. Eliminate the geotechnical and excess water risks to First and foremost, zoning ordinances are meant to help promote the basic welfare, safety and public health. They also ensure development fits in with the character of the neighborhood. For example: QVSD originally designed a site plan in 2019 with construction of tennis courts and a practice field in Edgeworth. Edgeworth ruled the area was in the Conservation Overlay district which is deemed recreation use only. QVSD then had to go back to the drawing board. homeowners in close proximity to the "Hilltop" site 7. No land-slide prone material on site. Just needs to address storm-water manangement which "Hilltop" site does as well 8. No Zoning approvals and minimal site approvals needed. Coupled with much shorter site prep timeline 9. Environmentally the best choice 10. Unites Quaker Valley residents behind a New School! When you compare the top of the slope in Leet Twp. (bordering Edgeworth) where QVSD is proposing to the place the high school, it is comparable to the land Edgeworth placed in a restricted use because of the steep slopes and soil instability So what is the current status of QVSD's application with the Leet Zoning Hearing Board? At these hearings there has been testimony that contradicts QSD's claims of safety In many cases by their own experts. Traffic safety: On Friday Sept. 17, 2021, James French, a Traffic Engineer testified in regard to the safety of Camp Meeting Road and Camp Meeting/Beaver intersection. His conclusion was that it was not safe to build a high school at the hilltop site. He believes that the elevated risk of accidents QVSD's experts from Garvin, Boward, Beitko are sources for this information. Under and injuries would be a significant detriment to the residents of Leet. His biggest concerns were: sight distance to turn from Camp Meeting to Beaver is impaired and the intersection is inadequate, the steep downgrade, very sharp turns, winter driving conditions, additional road deficiencies. Geotechnical: questioning by a homeowner downslope from the site, Mr Phillips confirmed the current site plan does not include additional benching, or removal of colluvial soil to significantly decrease landslide risk. This was removed when QVSB downsized the project from the project of 50 acres. "My understanding was that it was eliminated doing any filling in here because the residents didn't want a slope being built above. But in actuality, we were improving the condition with our slope. " It is unclear which QVSD or QVSB member told GBB that the residents preferred the current slope to remain as is. Note: this area has already had smaller documented slides. Per Mr Phillips if the land was not developed for a high school, "But you still have areas that are going to slide naturally because they've already shown signs that they are going to slide on the slope. On this property" Homeowner atated, "school probably won't wind up in our living room but the hillside could". Mr Phillips, "Over time, yes". Homeowner, "Well, that's comforting. Mr. Phillips," Mr. Phillips, "But you bought that house with that all along." Homeowner, "Thirty years ago I was willing to live with gradual shifting. But if this accelerates it, it's no longer gradual." The report from French quotes the CDC, " the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among teens aged 16 - 19 than among any other age group, In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers in this age group are nearly three times as likely as drivers aged 20 or older to be in a fatal crash." Wooster & Associates, the engineer for QVSD, determined that the average speed of drivers in this 25 mph zone is 34 mph going northbound and 37 mph going southbound. They also meas- ured traffic volume. It was determined that 2800 vehicles travel Camp Meeting each day If the high School is built there, they believe that volume will increase by 1792 vehicles per day for a total of 4592 vehicles. This number does not include any after school or community events. QVSD's traffic engineer testified that they treated 16-19 year old drivers the same as average adult drivers and did not study evening and winter conditions. Once school is completed, 16-19 Mr. Phillips also disclosed the the existing high school building is not in a floodplain. Only year old drivers on Camp Meeting increase 400%. the Stadium, tennis courts, practice field and parking are. Additionally, in their 2013 report they describe the construction of a retaining wall to increase the footprint would not be in a floodplain. Incidents like the recent October 6th collision need to be investigated and addressed before allowing Camp Meeting Rd to be the main road for our students: On October 6th at approximately 4:30 pm, there was a major multi-vehicle collision at the hairpin Timeline: turn by Mrytle Hill Rd. From a resident at the corner of Myrtle, "2 cars collided head on, totaled; drivers lived thanks to airbags; it was the loudest crash I've heard in my 31 years living off that road, with other cars' brakes squealing and a long delay before emergency crews got on the scene..and a long delay before emergency crews got on the scene; only by chance was a trailing fully loaded school bus not involved." Traffic was rerouted many miles through Ambridge since Camp Meeting Rd was closed up and down due to other road closures. Moving into a new school the Summer of 2025 on the Camp Meeting site is extremely unreal- istic given QVSD's failure to meet the timeline they set to get site approvals 10/2019 3/2021. The Zoning application wasn't submitted until 3/24/21. With a best case scenarion assuming no appeals, the earliest move-in Summer 2026. 1/2022 ZHB approval, 8/2022 Planning Comm approval, Site Prep 9/2022 -8/2024, School construction 3/2024 - 8/2026, If there are appeals the move-in could be anytime Summer 2026 - 2031. Next Leet ZHB meeting: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 7 PM Zoom and at Leet Township 194 Ambridge Avenue, Fair Oaks, PA 15003 Want to learn more? Zoning Hearing Board Transcripts are held at Leet Township. https://staticl.squarespace.com/static/ 5e8s6lec5571062712be6525/1/ 616488316c7aa6790e2 be18/1633970433356/2021+01-29+OGS-French-Safety-Review%SB2%SD.pdf https://ahsbuilding.org/ataglance/preferred-design-conceptdiagrams/njp-carousel-1838 https://www.qvsd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp? UREC_ID-1538858&type-d&pREC_ID=1676145 Paid for by Citizens for a Great School cdags.org | CitizensForAGreatSchoolegmail.com Donations to: CGS P>O> Box 555 I Sewickley, PA 15143