ALPINE — After a lengthy and emotional discussion by Alpine City Council members, upset residents and passionate supporters, plans for a controversial charter school were sent back to the Alpine planning commissioners.

On April 4, Alpine planning commissioners voted against recommending the site plan of Mountainville Academy to City Council members, but on Tuesday night Alpine city attorney David Church emphatically stated to City Council members that the Planning Commission's decision had not only been invalid, but illegal.

Planning commissioners initially denied the proposed site plan — a seven-acre plot located near 100 South and 360 East — citing state law that says schools cannot be built on land that has a history or potential of flooding. But Church said it is up to the county health department to determine whether the site meets those requirements, not the planning commissioners.

"We're grateful that the City Council is complying with the law and we want to do everything that we possibly can to make sure that we're coordinating with the city, mitigating the concerns of the residents," said Rebecca Whitchurch, chairwoman of the board of trustees for Mountainville Academy.

One woman shouted out during the meeting that if workers were to start digging, she'd stand on the plot and make them dig around her. Others called Mountainville Academy a bad neighbor.

"It's not ever been our intention to be a problem or be a bad neighbor," Whitchurch said. "We just want to do what's right and also provide for a good education, a good choice of education, for a lot of children."

Mountainville Academy is slated to open this fall, and already many students have already enrolled. A down payment has also already been made on the intended parcel of land.

With the plans being sent back to the planning commission, residents say they are hoping for a change in location

"We have a lot of citizens that are very unhappy with this site and we have a lot of charter people who want to put it there without regard to what the citizens want," Alpine resident John Johnson said. "I would say we're just beginning a long a difficult process."

---

E-mail: jelder@desnews.com