West Cornwall Township planners review proposed driveway off of state Route 117

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A proposed driveway off of state Route 117 in Mount Gretna received a more favorable response from West Cornwall Township planning commissioners Wednesday than when it was first presented in May.

Chad Smith of Steckbeck Engineering & Surveying Inc. asked the planning commission for their “blessing on the general layout” for the driveway that would provide access to a proposed 5,000-square foot building on a 3-acre lot for the Mount Gretna School of Art. He estimated the driveway length at about 300 feet.

“This is the first of many steps in a long process,” Smith told planners. “We have to coordinate with DEP, with PennDOT, with Met-Ed.”

In May, planning commissioners raised concerns about whether the driveway’s proposed width would allow for emergency vehicles. The new layout discussed Wednesday shows a 20-foot driveway off of Route 117 to allow for two cars for at least 100 feet. The driveway would then narrow to 14 feet and widen again at the parking lot for the building, Smith said.

The planning commission didn’t take a formal vote on the new layout Wednesday but said it was an improvement from what they had seen in May.

“I feel better about the driveway, but it’s not up to us — it’s up to PennDOT,” said commission member Kim Juliani. “It looks better. You’ve fixed concerns from last time.”

The proposed driveway would take advantage of Met-Ed’s easement on the 15-acre site zoned residential forest and owned by Eastern Enterprises. Met-Ed would have to approve the proposed driveway located between the entrance into the Mount Gretna Roller Rink and the intersection of Butler Road/Route 117. At one point, Met-Ed had stoned a lane under the power lines for its trucks.

Because PennDOT would also have to approve the proposed driveway with a highway occupancy permit, a scoping meeting with PennDOT and county and township officials is needed to discuss traffic considerations such as whether there are adequate sight lines and whether a traffic study must be conducted, Smith said.

DEP also will have to weigh in on the proposed driveway as a portion of the site is in a flood plain, he said.

Additionally, the driveway is slated to cross the Conewago Creek, which runs through the easement. Smith said the driveway would need a small culvert or a bridge to allow for crossing the creek. If a bridge, then the Army Corps of Engineers would have to issue a permit. Otherwise, DEP would issue a general permit, Smith said.

Township zoning officer Jeff Steckbeck said he has not yet issued a determination as to whether an art school is a permitted use in the residential forest district and is still gathering data.

“Art school” is not listed as a permitted use, special exception use, or conditional use anywhere in the zoning ordinance, according to an email Steckbeck sent to members of the township zoning hearing board and shared at Wednesday’s meeting.

The ordinance allows for “publicly owned nursery, kindergarten, elementary, middle, high schools” as a permitted use in the residential forest district, according to the township’s zoning ordinance. As a permitted use, the minimum lot size is 3 acres.

“Our ordinance doesn’t define a school or call out an art school,” Steckbeck said.

Alternatively, the school could be considered a “community facility,” which includes museums and libraries and which is a permitted use and could also be built on 3 acres, Steckbeck said.

Steckbeck noted that the state Department of Revenue approved the Mount Gretna School of Art as an “Institution of Purely Public Charity,” and the IRS also has classified the school as a “public charity” and 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

“I may determine it is a permitted use or it may be that it has to go before the zoning hearing board,” Steckbeck told the planning commission.

In his email to the zoning hearing board, Steckbeck noted that his determination can be appealed provided a person does that within 30 days.

The Mount Gretna School of Art opened in 2013, said executive director Jay Noble, who attended the meeting. About 24 students attend the seven-week intensive school each summer. Classes are held outdoors as well as in various facilities throughout Mount Gretna.

Until recently, the MGSOA leased the Mount Gretna Heights Community Building, but that facility will not be available starting in 2026, Noble said in an email.

“While we are sad to see our classroom home for the past 11 years go, pursuing our own permanent classroom space starting this year has long been part of our development plan,” he wrote.

Having a building of its own also would enable the MGSOA to expand programming to year-round and provide a potential space for community use, he added.

“We’d like to stay in Mount Gretna,” Noble said in his email. “We’re still trying to learn what this option (the lot within the residential forest zone) might entail and whether or not we even want to do it.”

The West Cornwall Township Planning Commission meets at 73 S. Zinns Mill Road on the fourth Wednesday of the month. The next scheduled meeting is 7 p.m., Wednesday, August 27. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.