Day 1 of the new student parking plan. According to the District calendar, it is not a typical day since the high school students have finals. Any reports on Day 1?
According to the Mt. Lebanon Zoning Ordinance Section 817.13.3.1.2.1, A shared parking plan shall require a written shared parking agreement, acceptable to the Commission...The agreement shall be submitted to the Commission prior to issuance of a conditional use permit.
My understanding is that the Commission has not accepted anything, nor has anything been submitted to the Commission. Has this gone before the Zoning Hearing Board? Is this yet another example of the School District taking the law into their own hands?
15 comments:
On the 15th instant I wrote all the Commissioners, asking for some kind of clarification concerning the construction parking issue at the high school, specifically mentioning the plan that went into effect today (18 January 2012). I also adduced the concerns of some of the correspondents on this Blog pertaining to the total number of spaces the District is to make available during this time. Four of the five Commissioners responded, as did Mr. Keith McGill, the Municipal Planner. The Commissioners said that the parking and traffic flow situations were being investigated, but the reply I received from Mr. McGill was succinct.
With respect to the 528 parking spaces referenced by Mr. Lewis on 14 January 2012, Mr. McGill said, "The 528 number that you cite from the blog is the number of parking spaces required by the Zoning Ordinance upon completion of the project. As to parking, traffic and circulation issues during construction of a project there are no provisions within our existing codes related to this issue." Mr. McGill went on to say, "The pre-construction requirement identified in the SALDO is specific to the construction of the private improvements but parking/traffic may be discussed in an attempt to insure that a plan for vehicular and pedestrian traffic are provided for throughout the construction period for the project. The school district has made alternative arrangements for parking during the period of construction to ensure that adequate parking will be available."
I'm not sure what to make of all of this, but it would appear from Mr. McGill's reply that the Municipality is satisfied with the District's parking arrangement during the construction period. I thanked Mr. McGill for his reply.
Thanks, Richard. We are in the pre-construction phase. I still think the Commission has power during the pre-construction phase, but during the construction phase, all bets are off. It comes down to the School District bullying us once again.
Elaine
Yes Elaine...your Zoning Section reference is under Section 817.13 Alternative Parking Plans(APP). In sub-Section "817.13.2 Review and Approval Procedure. An Alternative Parking Plan pursuant to this Section shall require a Conditional Use Permit from the Commission pursuant to Section 1002". Note particularly the use of the word "shall" and not can, may or will. Section 1002 covers Conditional Use provisions. Section 817.13.3.1.3 Site Plan specifies that a site plan and particular facts must also be submitted.
I'm not aware that the Lutheran Church Lot conforms with these provisions in terms of a required plan submission to or Conditional Use review and approval by the Muni, nor for the Dixon Lot as well.
You will recall that the original HS plan and Muni approvals (Conditional Use and Land Development Plan)were based on the District's stipulation that contractors employees vehicles would be parked offsite, and not on Lebo residential streets. It seems that at least one April bidder made offsite leasing arrangements for parking at the PAT garage/lots at South Hills Village. You may also recall SB member Remely remarking after that bid opening debacle that he had no idea that such parking arrangements would be so expensive.
The rebid HS contract removed the offsite parking requirement for contractors, and permitted onsite parking...apparently the Muni was not aware or advised, did not recognize the intended consequences, or perhaps chose to ignore them and *work it out* somehow....don't rightly know which. In any event, while Muni staff can waive some Zoning reqirements under certain circumstances, I would think that a statute requiring Conditional Use approval by the Commission is not one of them.
Bill Lewis
A resident emailed me with this question.
According to the traffic update on the District website, only students with valid student parking permits will be able to park in the Dixon parking lot. What about residents who may want to use the Dixon lot for recreation facility use? The district has no right to deny me access to a muni rec facility lot.
Excellent question since there is no shared parking agreement.
Elaine
I think it's interesting that they chose to begin the new parking arrangement during the week of midterms. If they are really thinking about the students, wouldn't they want to keep this week as stress-free and not have the kids worrying about where they are parking?
Teresa
Tess, did you see the announcement about the PTA Council's community forum called, "Striking a Balance" to be held Feb. 8 at 7 pm? The District website writes:
Mt. Lebanon PTA Council will hold a community forum on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Fine Arts Theatre to further explore the issue of teen stress. Students today face a balancing act of academics, extracurricular activities, social pressures, and college pursuit. Learn more about these issues and the tools to use to help young people cope. The evening will be moderated by KDKA news anchor, Ken Rice.
This is from
http://mtlsd.org/district/HeadlineArticle.asp?HLP_ID=1342&HL_ID=1074#1074
Liz, they still show "Pediatricion." [Thank you spell check for alerting me.]
Josephine Posti writes that the student parking was off to a good start on her blog. She also mentioned that the SD received permits this morning. I hope you all read the parking agreement. The school district is supposed to keep the parking lot free of snow for Sunday services.
Elaine
I have to wonder, how would this affect the Adult Education classes that the High School offers? I was thinking about taking one of the classes but if I had to park that far away and walk on a cold night, I'm really re-thinking it.
I would like to make a suggestion, for what it's worth. If you have an issue that concerns the Commission, please send an email to commission@mtlebanon.org rather than sending to an individual commissioner. You can still address your email to a particular commissioner, but this way all the commissioners can get a better handle of how the community feels on an issue.
Elaine
Jack, my last comment was not directed to you. I understand that one or two commissioners are getting bombarded with emails and the others aren't in the loop.
As far as adult education classes, I am not sure if that would be through the school district or the rec program.
Elaine
Elaine, adult education at the high school is conducted through the school district, not the municipal recreation department.
http://www.mtlsd.org/district/adulteducation.asp
The MTLSD website states, "There will be NO student parking on the high school campus during the school day."
http://www.mtlsd.org/highschoolrenovation/hstrafficupdates.asp
I am guessing that since adult education occurs after the school day, adult ed students can park on the high school campus.
Another thing, who took that picture of Berg with Posti shown on the home page?
A Kodak Instamatic can focus better than that. It's crooked, too.
Not sure if the above parking quote counts as a copyright infringment.
David Huston
David, thank you for clarifying that. I was ready to submit this comment:
To avoid another situation at the next commission meeting, I should say that if you have any questions or concerns about Rec Dept. classes, please email Susan Morgans at smorgans@mtlebanon.org Thanks.
Elaine
Has anyone else had issues? This was emailed to me.
The district says this on their site...
"Jan. 12, 2012 Update : Student parking will no longer be available on the high school campus during the school day beginning January 18. Student parking will only be available off-site, during the school day, at the Mt. Lebanon United Lutheran Church on Washington Road and in the Dixon Field Parking Lot on Cedar Boulevard. Parking in either off-site lot is available only to students with valid student parking permits and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. Read more under "Parking" below.
This is the only construction related change scheduled at this time. All traffic patterns around the high school campus will operate as normal."
Except that I had to go over to the rec center so decided to cruise thru the grounds. It appears,,, All traffic patterns around the high school campus are NOT operating normally!
Morgan is CLOSED from the Commissioners Lot up to the South Lot, which is closed off to all traffic the length of the Rock Pile.
The Commissioners Lot entrance has a sign declaring Faculty Staff Parking Only. I thought the municipality had a "SHARED" parking agreement with the district!?
It appears that there are plenty of spaces available in all the designated lots so far. The kids and teachers must be walking or car pooling. There were even empty spaces available in front of the HS pool on Horsman. Although the district had vans parked in the fire lane.
Elaine
A friend of mine from Upper St. Clair told me her commute on Washington Rd. near the high school took her 15 minutes longer this morning.
I'm sure it will get worse as the project goes into full swing.
David Huston
David, your friend should be happy to know that she will get a reprieve tomorrow. No school. Monday should be interesting since it will be a regular school day. If your friend was delayed for fifteen minutes during finals, Monday could be a nightmare.
Elaine
Most of the increased congestion on Washington Road was caused by commuters avoiding the T today. Trolley service was disrupted by a runaway barge that hit the Panhandle Bridge overnight.
Parking was still available in the Castle Shannon lot as late as 8:00, and there was a lot more elbow room on the ride -- until we had to disembark at South Hills Junction and wait for buses.
Monday will be a more accurate measuring stick.
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