School sites trigger worries
One school, Spectrum Academy, is in the middle of a housing development bordered by industrial sites. The other, Legacy Preparatory Academy, is being built across the street from a sewage-treatment plant and just east of the Legacy Parkway now under construction.
City officials worry that students at Legacy Preparatory will be exposed to strong odors from the sewage-treatment plant. And some residents and parents have concerns about the proximity of both schools to a medical-waste incinerator and several oil refineries.
But a new state law has taken jurisdiction over land use for charter schools out of the city's hands, said Blaine Gehring, North Salt Lake planner.
"That's why these charter schools are going in sites like this," he said. "We can't really say no to them."
Under HB172, approved this past March, the zoning requirements that a city can impose on charter schools are limited. According to that law, "a municipality may subject a charter school to standards within each zone pertaining to setback, height, bulk and massing regulations, off-site parking, curb cut, traffic circulation and construction staging."
Legacy Preparatory will be located within a half-mile of the medical-waste incinerator and three miles from several refineries. The incinerator, operated by Stericycle, is one of 72 medical-waste incinerators still operating in the United States. Stericycle, based in Illinois, is the nation's largest medical-waste disposal company.
Nine years ago, about 2,400 such incinerators operated across the nation, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But most have closed in recent years, due to increased state and federal regulation and outcry from residents. Stericycle's North Salt Lake plant now accepts waste from several states, including Arizona and California, where incinerators have shut down.
School officials at Legacy Preparatory said in an interview last week that the proximity of their school to the sewage-treatment plant and other industrial sites wasn't a concern. "Why should it be a concern?" asked Margo Cowley, developer for Legacy.
But before beginning construction, Legacy Preparatory's board members signed and sent a letter to North Salt Lake, acknowledging that they were building in an industrial area. A second letter was sent to the school's developer, waiving any rights to sue.
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