ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Officials for a charter school are continuing to push for approval to open in Allentown, and public school officials remain steadfast in urging the city to reject it.
Lehigh Valley STEAM Academy Charter School executives presented their plans last month to Allentown Planning Commission, which forwarded the proposal to the Allentown City Council without a recommendation.
- The Lehigh Valley STEAM Academy Charter School is facing hurdles to gain approval from Allentown School District and city officials
- Academy officials want to open the school in an office building that's zoned for industrial uses
- An Allentown City Council Committee recommended rejecting a proposed zoning amendment that would allow the charter school to open
The council’s five-member Community and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday listened to the plans before recommending the full council reject them at an upcoming meeting.
Council member Candida Affa said the council should deny Lehigh Valley STEAM Academy Charter School’s application for a zoning ordinance amendment because the city is working to rewrite its zoning codes.
City Planning Director Jennifer Gomez said city employees have worked for three years to overhaul Allentown’s zoning code. She said she hopes the process is complete and the new zoning code is adopted next year.
'Logical transition' zones
Allentown zoning ordinances allow schools in residential and business zones but not in areas zoned for industrial or governmental uses. Academy officials want the city to let an elementary or secondary school open in industrial areas adjacent to residential areas and an institutional building.
Charlie Schmehl, a consultant with Urban Research & Development Corporation in Bethlehem, spoke on behalf of the Lehigh Valley STEAM Academy Charter School at Wednesday’s meeting.
He said the proposed zoning ordinance amendment would apply to seven properties across Allentown.
The building’s owner has struggled to lease it for office uses due to a 'substantial excess of office space in Lehigh County.'Charlie Schmehl, a consultant with Urban Research & Development Corporation
Schmehl said Allentown officials have previously let developers convert lots at the “edges” of industrial zones for residential uses.
Allowing schools in “these border areas would allow for a logical transition” between industrial and residential zones, academy officials said in their application for a zoning amendment.
Potential 'spot-zoning' issues
After speaking against the charter school proposal in April, Allentown School District Facilities Director Thomas Smith again on Wednesday urged city officials to reject it.
Approving the zoning-ordinance amendment could be considered “spot zoning” because it would primarily benefit one project, Smith and Loren Szczesny, an attorney for the Allentown School District, warned the city council committee.
Spot zoning is “a singling out of one lot or a small area for different treatment from that accorded to similar surrounding land indistinguishable from it in character, for the economic benefit [or detriment] of the owner,” according to the state Community and Economic Development Department.
State courts have ruled spot zoning is unconstitutional.
Amending zoning ordinances to let schools open in some industrial areas is “simply not good planning” because schools already are allowed in 13 of Allentown’s 18 types of zoning districts, Szczesny said.
'Absolutely the right building'
Lehigh Valley STEAM Academy Charter School officials hope to open in a 43-year-old, four-story building at 2268 S. 12th St. The building is currently vacant, and its lot is being used by trucks.
The agreement to let trucks park on the property would end if the school gains approval to open there, Schmehl told the city council committee. The owner is letting trucks park in the lot to help cover the property’s taxes and maintenance costs, he said.
The building’s owner has struggled to lease it for office uses because of a "substantial excess of office space in Lehigh County," Schmehl said.
The building is on a 2.22-acre lot and boasts 44,000 square feet of space, according to online listings.
Dave Rank, a consultant with the Lehigh Valley STEAM Academy Charter School project, said the office building is "absolutely the right building" to convert into a school, because of its layout.
The proposed school is being modeled on the Pennsylvania STEAM Academy in Harrisburg, which Rank called an "absolutely phenomenal" school.
Though large banners on the building say the Lehigh Valley STEAM Academy Charter School is enrolling students for the 2023-24 school year, the delays caused by various application denials is forcing officials to push that timeline back by a year, Rank said.
The academy filed an application last year to open in Allentown School District, but the school board unanimously denied that application in February.
Charter school officials are appealing the denial of its application to the state’s board, Rank said. He expects that appeal hearing to be held within 90 days.
