BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. — Bethlehem Area School District wants to get ahead of state plans to reconfigure a township intersection in case it at some point wants to build a school on land it owns nearby.
District officials came before the Bethlehem Township Planning Commission on Monday after submitting a proposal to build an elementary school on a 15-acre parcel it owns near the northeast corner of Freemansburg Avenue and Farmersville Road.
“This submission was really our due diligence as a public entity to make sure that after the road improvements are made, that a school — the property was purchased over 40 years ago now — is still fit."Mark Stein, BASD chief facilities and operations officer
State transportation officials in October announced plans to make changes to the currently “half-H” intersection and make it a plus-shaped four-way with a stop light come 2027.
The school district said it's looking to get ahead of those road changes in case officials want to build a new elementary school at some point on that land.
“This submission was really our due diligence as a public entity to make sure that after the road improvements are made, that a school — the property was purchased over 40 years ago now — is still fit,” said Mark Stein, BASD chief facilities and operations officer.
Schools Superintendent Jack Silva said the district has no active plans for a new school. But it might down the road, and the district wants to keep the property as an option.
"The PennDOT plan that we reviewed to reconstruct the road would compromise our ability to use the land as a school," Silva said. "In other words, we’re protecting the value of the district's asset there."
He said the district wants "to preserve the ability to have access and egress to and from the site, if the school district ever planned to build a school there. We would want to be able to enter and exit the property onto the roads."
The district currently leases the property to a nearby farmer for growing.
BASD recently submitted land development documents and presented a sketch plan for a school at Monday night’s meeting.
Dimensions of proposed school
Those plans include a two-story, 70,000-square-foot school featuring 117 total parking spaces, 14 bus spaces, student pickup and drop-off queue space for up to 57 cars, as well as a soccer field and basketball courts.
The parcel sits in the Rural Residential with Neighborhood Enhancement Overlay District, and now is listed as an “agricultural farm field” space, according to submitted documents from BASD.
A school would be considered a conditional use on that land, according to township ordinance.
“To be quite honest and blunt, I think it’s a dumb idea. I really do. I think the property is too small. I think there’s too many dangers involved here.”Bethlehem Township Planning Commission member Harold Levy
Planning commission member Harold Levy wasn’t a fan of the proposal.
“To be quite honest and blunt, I think it’s a dumb idea,” Levy said. “I really do. I think the property is too small. I think there’s too many dangers involved here.”
Planner James Daley said he saw the potential for the lot to serve as a place for the district to park school buses, especially as officials are looking to transition to having some electric vehicles in the fleet.
Planner David Wong was curious about classroom size, gym capacity and what nearby residential areas would be served by another incoming school.
Terry DeGroot, of advising firm Terraform Engineering, said the school is planned to take in about 500 students, with about 25 per classroom. The proposed gym capacity likely would be about 360, he said.
Stein said district lines could always be discussed again in the future, pending the development of another school. Farmersville Elementary School is about two miles away, off William Penn Highway.
“We don’t know what the next 20-plus years holds,” Stein said.
