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 at least three to six feet of a cover material that had been placed during the closure of that landfill,” said Britney Barnes of Sewan Environmental Consultants, who said Brownfields investigations included soil and groundwater testing. Barnes said yearly inspections required by the South Carolina DES (as referenced in the presentation) would require repairs to the cap if erosion was visible.

John Sheck of DRMP, the applicant’s traffic consultant, said the traffic study was reviewed and approved by SCDOT and county staff. Proposed site mitigation includes a northbound and southbound left-turn lane at the main entrance, a northbound right-turn lane into the site, and separate left- and right-turn lanes at the northern egress. He said the county and SCDOT requested a staggered schedule for the school to produce two separate pick-up/drop-off groups during peak periods.

The applicant’s public-engagement representative, Justin Matthews of Alliance Education Services, said the school had more than 1,500 preapplications as of the meeting and estimated about 80% of applicants were Lancaster County residents. He said the school planned bus routes within a two- to six-mile radius of the site and would adjust start and end times to avoid local bottlenecks.

Several commissioners sought more detail on grading and long-term monitoring. Commissioner Michelle Richards asked whether monitoring wells remain in place; Barnes replied the monitoring wells had been abandoned after the Brownfields review because the agency was satisfied with the data. Commissioner Francis Lou pressed the applicant on assurances that the cap would be maintained during and after construction; the applicant’s environmental consultant said the plan is to place fill on top of the existing cap where development will occur and to replace or repair cap material if it becomes exposed.

The conditional-use plan as submitted includes a required pedestrian/bicycle connection to adjacent residential properties and a 10-foot-wide multi-use path through the site, plus a landscaped buffer along athletic fields and parking where those areas adjoin residential parcels. Staff said those two items (connectivity and athletic-field/parking buffers) had been outstanding at an earlier meeting but were addressed in the May 5 resubmittal.

During the public-hearing portion, resident Thomas Wesley Crump said he worried about traffic speeds on Harrisburg Road, night noise from school athletic events and the lack of sidewalks along parts of the road. Another resident who spoke in support noted the school will serve K–8 and therefore will not host high-school–level events that typically run later in the evening.

A motion to recommend approval passed on a roll-call vote: Jason Cavalier, Jokema Cureton, Judiana Tinklenberg, Michelle Richards and Sheila Henson voted in favor; Commissioner Francis Lou voted against. The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to Lancaster County Council for final action.

The applicant team said they would be available to provide additional technical detail to county staff and the public as council considers the request.