Lancaster planners approve Harrisburg Global Academy conditional use despite one dissent

Lancaster County Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a conditional use permit for Harrisburg Global Academy, a proposed K–8 charter school on about 26.5 acres off Harrisburg Road adjacent to the Almond Glen neighborhood.

The school would be located on property that staff and the applicant described as a closed landfill with a required cap; the project team said the site has been investigated under the Brownfields program and that a cap of roughly three to six feet of cover material currently overlies the landfill materials. Staff reported the applicant had addressed outstanding technical-review comments and received an approval letter from the county technical review committee on May 7.

Commissioners and residents focused questioning on three practical issues: whether coal ash or other landfill material would be exposed during construction, how traffic will be managed at peak pick-up and drop-off times, and how students would access the site by foot or bicycle.

“Whenever we were in the landfill area there was…