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City council has rejected McKeesport Area School District's request for conditional-use zoning to build a new elementary school near Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus.

By a 4-3 vote, council on Wednesday rejected a recommendation from the city's planning commission and declined to grant the request made by the district for 26 acres of the former Buck estate, which spans McKeesport and White Oak.

A conditional-use permit is necessary to build a school on the site, which is zoned for single-family homes.

Councilors Richard Dellapenna Jr., Dale McCall, Darryl Segina and A.J. Tedesco Jr. cast no votes.

Some council members said they were motivated to reject the request by the testimony of the property owners, Robert and Joanne DeTorre of White Oak, who are fighting the district's attempt to seize the land through the eminent domain process.

The DeTorres' property encompasses 37 acres total, including the former Buck mansion on Henderson Road in White Oak. Robert DeTorre testified on Tuesday that he wants to sell the land for a housing development.

Segina and Tedesco said they agreed with DeTorre that the land --- one of the last large wooded parcels available for development in the city --- might be better suited for new housing than a school.

But council's rejection doesn't necessarily stop the district's plans. Following the meeting, City Solicitor Craig Alexander said council will explain to the district why the permit request was deficient in the city's eyes.

The district then has 30 days to appeal council's decision to Common Pleas Court, Alexander told the Almanac, or it could ask city council to reconsider the application.

McKeesport Area School District is in the midst of a process to consolidate five elementary schools down to three. Francis McClure School in White Oak has recently been expanded, and Cornell School in the city's Seventh Ward is being replaced with a new building.

After reportedly examining and rejecting 19 locations for the third school, the school board in July voted to acquire 26 acres of the Buck property. The land, most of which is currently vacant, is valued at $282,500, according to county tax records.

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