Updates & News

About the Land Development Application:

The constrained parcel size relative to the intensity of the proposed development raises serious public safety, traffic, & environmental stewardship concerns.

All calculations are underestimated, there are a number of inaccuracies, missing information & flawed assumptions; existing traffic conditions are not described.

Traffic monitoring was conducted manually on a single day - the Wednesday after Memorial Day - for 1 hour in the Am and 1 in the PM - but not the times working parents will arrive.

Daily vehicle trips generated by the proposed K-1 is 1,861 - yet the value underestimates student capacity & fails to include the 105 staff.

The proposed K-1 site can accommodate a 44-car queue, which the school district, not the traffic engineer, determined acceptable.

The remaining 250+ parent vehicles will spillover onto Rose Tree Road and Route 352.

The study concludes traffic conditions are acceptable “only in conjunction with future PennDOT improvements” which are said to be a decade away.

The planned, district lead, Rose Tree Road realignment is up to $3.7M & will address existing traffic - not the additional traffic from the proposed land development.

No analysis was done regarding whether emergency vehicles can bypass the lengthy car queue or how the site will function in inclement weather /mass early dismissal scenario.

A regional K-1 requires additional bus runs and significantly more private vehicle trips, elevating energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change, heat island generation, and air pollution.

Critical information regarding groundwater, wetlands, turf materials, lighting, & the protection of neighbors’ drinking water wells is missing.

Rezoning the property to count high school athletic fields in the stormwater calculation gives the appearance of ordinance compliance by changing the math, not the science, & is not protective of the Ridley Creek watershed.

236 trees will be removed. “The School District intends to pay a fee in lieu of planting the required number of replacement trees” to create an “open grass environment.”

Displacement of wildlife, removal of trees & destruction of open space is not the only choice. Both Glenwood & Rose Tree Elementary schools have ample school owned and zoned “open grass” acreage to build the same 6 classroom, 2 story building planned for the middle school, said to have “no traffic impact” which will solve stated needs. The intentional destruction of the open space & harm to the watershed is completely unnecessary.

The small parcel does not appear to have a sidewalk or outdoor playground - for full day kindergarten & first graders? The school superintendent said K-1 Centers are held to a different playground area standard; it is not understood what that means but the possibility that there is no outdoor recess or play area is an added concern.

The lighting map lacks key details, including number of fixtures, pole heights, fixture types, bulb types, light levels, shielding, light levels projected at adjacent property lines, and operating hours.

This William Penn Land Grant property dates to 1702. Penncrest High School is named after the historic Penncrest Farms & part of the high school property was originally part of the 18th-century farmstead owned by prominent Philadelphia architect Walter Smedley. A 2024 PennDOT presentation identifies portions of the proposed K-1 parcel as historic property.

Further details and specifics are available in Comments to the Township and Comment to PennDOT - linked here.

In other news, the below linked 2018 Capacity Feasibility Study was available on-line. It was noted that pages 28-31 are missing. A version of the Study including missing pages consisting of Pros/Cons & costs was located. There are discrepancies with the page titled “Options Considered, Not Recommended” - see the Missing Pages tab for more information.

From the June 2026 Work Session - “The construction market is facing several headwinds that could impact the budget.”

For the 2026/2027 school year, Media Elementary will have 3 first grade classrooms instead of the current 4.

May 2026 Land Development Update

· Eminent domain claim filed May 1, 2026 to take adjacent church property for Rose Tree Road realignment;

· “Preliminary” Land Development Application submitted to Middletown Township May 6, 2026;

· Environmental Impact Assessment Report omitted from application & submitted May 22, 2026.

· According the District, the Township’s decision is anticipated in spring 2027.