Planning Commission recommends subdivision at 703 Rodi Road to host Dominus charter school

The Wilkins Township Planning Commission on Jan. 15 recommended that the Board of Commissioners approve the D’Andrea plan of subdivision to accommodate the Dominus charter school at 703 Rodi Road, with the condition that all comments from the township engineer and Allegheny County be resolved first.

Rebecca Mizikar, landscape architect for PVE LLC representing Advancing Youth Initiative (Dominus), presented the plan and said the parcel (county parcel #452-B-10-1/Lot #2) is roughly 15 acres total, with 3.47 acres in Wilkins and 11.67 acres in Penn Hills. Mizikar described the school building as having "87 linear feet fronting Maple Lane" and said the applicant proposes to remove an existing west-side ingress/egress easement and create a 50-foot ingress/egress easement on the east side, along with several utility easements.

Kevin Brett, managing principal for township engineer LSSE, told the commission that LSSE’s Jan. 7, 2025 review flagged several missing items on the plan — including zoning classification, plan scale, depiction of existing buildings and utilities, floodplain, setback lines and the correct signature block — and that an additional EDU must be accounted for in the sewer planning module. Brett said, "This can be addressed by the applicant providing a letter stating the site is already approved for 20 EDUs but that they can split the EDUs with nineteen going to the 3.47-acre lot and the remaining one EDU going to the 11.67-acre undeveloped lot." Brett also noted the planning module currently lists approximately 28 EDUs and recommended changing the EDUs on the plan to 29 to reflect the additional EDU.

Commission discussion addressed access to the rear 11.67-acre lot, which Mizikar said would be served by a 24-foot cartway that runs through existing parking and could be expanded. Solicitor Benjamin Orsatti said details for maintenance and use of the private cartway would be legal matters between property owners. Fire Marshal Ryan Flaherty said the 24-foot cartway "should" allow modern fire apparatus to navigate the site provided cars do not block the route.

Because the parcel spans Wilkins and Penn Hills, Orsatti explained the Municipal Planning Code gives the planning commission jurisdiction where a subdivision is proposed, but Penn Hills must formally defer jurisdiction to Wilkins by council resolution. Township Manager Rebecca Vargo said Penn Hills intended to address the deferral in February after missing its January meeting window.

The commission voted to recommend approval of the subdivision plan to the Board of Commissioners "under the requirement that all comments made by the engineer and County are addressed first" (motion moved by Rich DeRiso, seconded by Dr. Donald Hoffman). Commissioners also moved separately to recommend a public hearing on the easement/frontage waiver needed because the existing building fronts a private easement rather than a township roadway. Next steps: the Board of Commissioners will consider the commission’s recommendations after the applicant addresses engineering and county comments and after Penn Hills acts on jurisdictional deferral.