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Roberta 1 School District seeks commission recommendation for new Cherry Town Elementary
Summary
The school district presented plans to demolish and replace Cherry Town Elementary with a new two‑story, ~88,000 sq ft building; the district said construction could start in early 2027 and finish mid‑2029, and committed to working with township consultants on traffic, buffering, and stormwater issues.
Roberta 1 School District representatives on April 21 asked the Upper Dublin Planning Commission to recommend their primary‑final land‑development submission for the replacement of Cherry Town Elementary.
Julian Drennan, assistant superintendent, said he was at the meeting on the district’s behalf because other district officials had a conflicting meeting. Andy Fremont of Whistler’s office, the district’s consultant, presented the project scope: demolition of the existing one‑story school and construction of a new two‑story building of about 88,000 square feet, a reconfigured bus loop, new parking and drop‑off areas, relocated ball fields and play areas, and stormwater management facilities.
Fremont said the district concluded replacement best met programming needs and would reduce disruption to learning because construction would occur in a new building rather than inside an occupied one. "By building a new building, the students will not have to deal with learning in a building where construction is occurring in that building at the same time," he told the commission.
The presentation outlined a construction timeline the district expects to begin site construction in early 2027 with occupancy targeted for mid‑2029. Fremont said the district had received review letters from the township engineer, zoning officer and landscape consultant; the township traffic consultant had not issued its review because traffic matters were still being resolved with PennDOT and the district.
Commissioners questioned stormwater, sewer capacity, parking demand and bus‑loop staging. Fremont said the district would work with Rick Collier (landscape) and other township consultants to refine buffering and planting plans in response to neighbor comments. On parking, the team reported a zoning‑code calculation of 180 spaces based on potential gymnasium assembly seating but said typical day‑to‑day operations would use about 106 spaces; the traffic impact study will provide additional detail.
The district said additional renderings, final grading and stormwater notes would be submitted as part of the resubmission process and that they planned resubmission and a return to the commission in June after consultant reviews were addressed.
The commission did not take final action; staff and the district will continue technical coordination prior to a recommendation request at a subsequent meeting.
