Shady Side Academy officials are moving forward with new plans for a proposed west entrance to its Upper School campus in Fox Chapel.
Revisions were made following objections from residents and the Fox Chapel Parks Commission to the academy’s original designs, which called for the removal of about 400 trees at least 6 inches in diameter and land disturbance of a high graded area.
Original site landscaping would have 195 shrubs as well as a total of 37 deciduous and evergreen trees planted to help offset the removed vegetation.
Academy President Bart Griffith said new plans submitted in early February reduce tree culling and increase tree plantings significantly, reducing the overall impact to the site’s tree canopy by about a third.
“We’re excited to submit the updated plan,” Griffith said. “We think that it meaningfully accounts for our concerns around campus safety, emergency responsiveness, crisis management. At the same time, it upholds the academy’s long-held commitment to preserving the natural beauty and the ecology of this pastoral campus.”
Academy documents indicate a minimum of 740 trees now would be planted along with the shrubbery.
There are numerous trees on the academy property marked with red and yellow bands. They are expected to be remarked in the coming weeks to reflect the new plans.
Other planning changes include relocating and extending stormwater management infrastructure originally developed near the Gene Deal Fields.
Trustee Emeritus Jon Kamin said the adjustments were a result of constant communication between the academy and borough engineering teams.
“This was part of an interim part of a process with the borough over the past several months where they looked at initially what we wanted to do,” Kamin said.
“We walked through a process of evaluating alternatives with them, including alternatives suggested by their engineers. Alternatives suggested by our engineers. (We) believe that we arrived at a meaningful compromise on the plan that’s going to have the net effect of significantly reducing stormwater impacts, actually adding more trees at the end of the day than what we planned before, and providing us with the safety and security and accessibility that we need.”
Academy officials said the entrance is necessary to create a second access point for families and first responders, and it would not create any new traffic.
Public safety professionals and emergency preparedness experts have identified this limitation as a serious concern in the event of emergencies, according to academy documents.
The 130-acre campus’ only entrance is located at 423 Fox Chapel Road on its east side.
The campus serves about 750 students and 150 faculty members.
Same location
The proposed entrance location remains along Riding Meadow Road between the private drives of Old Fox Hollow and Winterberry Lane.
Many of the newly saved trees would be along the roadway.
Kamin said they looked at multiple spots, including another entrance along Fox Chapel Road, but none of the alternatives fit the academy’s needs or borough requirements.
“We’re in an extremely environmentally sensitive area,” he said. “We have high-quality streams. We have wetlands. We have access issues. All those things have to be evaluated in terms of arriving at the entrance.”
Kamin said the academy went through an alternatives analysis as part of state Department of Environmental Protection compliance.
“You have to look at which alternative is the least impactful on the environment,” Kamin said. “We went through a number of alternatives initially. Then met with the borough and went through a number of suggested alternatives that they presented to us. The alternative that we ended up with is the least impactful, the most environmentally friendly.”
Other alternative entrance locations included a nearby dog park, coming across the field by the academy’s Country Day School and repurposing the construction road created for the Rockwell Middle School development.
Griffith said it also was important from a crisis management perspective to have an entrance on the opposite side of campus.
Academy officials said it may reduce emergency response time to the campus’ west side by 6 minutes as opposed to coming in from the east entrance.
Academy officials declined to state how much the new entrance would cost, only revealing it would be paid for by a philanthropist and likely named after that donor.
Revised plans are being evaluated by the borough engineer, LSSE, to ensure they comply with borough ordinances as well as state and federal regulations.
Reviews could take about two weeks or longer depending on how detailed the plans are and how in depth the review is, according to a LSSE staffer Feb. 19.
Plans also would have to go before Fox Chapel’s Environmental Advisory Council for a review of stormwater detention, soil stability, runoff and other environmental impacts, and the planning commission for design issues.
Both entities are recommending bodies. Council would have the final say.
The academy’s geotechnical engineer is ACA Engineering, and its civil engineer is Hampton Technical Associates. Both firms are based in Pittsburgh.
Early reviews
Resident Benjamin Rister, who lives downhill and downstream from the proposed entrance, said the revised plans do not do enough to alleviate his concerns.
“While there is progress in tree preservation and administrative compliance, the plans continue to demonstrate that the proposed development is incompatible with the site’s geology and borough ordinances, creating a new, permanent hazard for residents such as myself,” Rister said.
He and other residents like Matt Loht already have written to council encouraging its members to send the academy plans back to the drawing board despite revision submissions being accepted a few weeks ago.
“The existing forest plays a critical role in absorbing rainfall, stabilizing slopes and slowing runoff,” Loht wrote Feb. 16. “Removing hundreds of mature trees will eliminate that natural protection for decades. Retention ponds and saplings cannot replicate the hydrologic function of an established woodland ecosystem.”
Harrison Lauer, council vice president and planning commission chair, declined to comment on the revised plans.
“(I) am still working my way through the plans as likely are my colleagues,” Lauer said Feb. 24.
Wesley Posvar, fellow councilman and planning commission member, said he briefly looked at the plans and looks forward to any academy presentations and review responses.
“They’ve made some changes, and I haven’t really had the chance to really understand them,” Posvar said.
“Everything right now is in the hands of the borough’s engineering firm, who will go through the plans page by page and determine compliance with the borough’s ordinances. This will be before the environmental advisory council meeting coming up.”
Posvar said he planned to attend the EAC meeting March 9, which took place after this edition of the Fox Chapel Herald went to press.
The planning commission meets at 5:30 p.m. the third Monday of the month at the borough building.
The new plans are available for review on the borough’s website as well as at the borough office, 401 Fox Chapel Road.