St. Charles Seminary sale could impact LMSD

Over the past few months, a seemingly minor issue has caught the community’s attention, and it could impact LMSD. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia decided to sell a portion of the land of St. Charles Seminary in Wynnewood . The result could be an influx in the Township’s population and could cause LMSD to undergo substantial institutional changes.

The Seminary is located at the intersection of Lancaster and City Line Avenues and is near the Overbrook SEPTA station. This makes this property prime real estate for developers looking to expand into Lower Merion Township; the Seminary has received numerous offers for this 42 acre parcel of land. Developers have different plans for the land, such as the construction of apartments, condominiums, a retirement community, a luxury sports club, single-family homes, a hotel, and a community-shared open space. Single family homes, a sports club, or a hotel would have little effect on the schools. According to the current zoning laws, developers could only put 110 homes on the 42 acre property. These single family homes would not send enough kids into the district to make a large impact. However, if apartments are created on this land, it could cause huge problems for the District—specifically LM.

The creation of apartments could send an influx of students into our the District, dramatically increasing the size of the surrounding schools such as Merion Elementary, Bala Cynwyd Middle School, and LM. Even creating a 55 and older community could increase the number of students as older residents who already live in the township might move into the community, leaving their homes to be filled with families of school-aged children.

Susan Guthrie, president of the Coalition for Neighborhood Character and Quality, warned that “the redevelopment of such a very large piece of land could easily greatly increase the number of school-age children in the Township. We all need to recognize that new development can have a significant effect on our schools.”

A larger population of students could mean larger class sizes, which could disrupt student learning. It also poses a problem in terms of the limited number of classrooms; many schools might be forced to expand, an endeavor that is both costly and difficult. To account for the surge of students, the Township would probably have to raise taxes.

Besides the foreseen St. Charles apartments, the creation of 2,500 other apartments within LM has already been approved in the last three years, an addition that could increase Lower Merion Township’s population by 10 percent. In the words of Brian Gordon, an LM commissioner, “The School District is going to have to expand the size of the schools, because the township commissioners have approved thousands more apartment units and increased the zoning laws for height and density to a point where thousands more will come.”

There is a potential solution that could benefit LM. If the Township buys the property, it could transform it into a community space such as a park, or even sports fields to which LM might have access. As of now, nothing is definite, and it could be years before LMSD is affected.

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