Proposed High School in Milton Gets an F in My Book
categories: Alpharetta Real Estate, Milton Real Estate, Schools
This is one of the more difficult posts to write of all that I’ve written on this blog. Perhaps that is because I see both sides of the debate and believe each has some merit. However, even though I wrestle with finding the “right” answer to our school over-crowding situation in North Fulton, in the end I believe that the proposed new High School on Freemanville Road is definitely the wrong answer. And, it is not even so much that it is the wrong answer as it is that there just seems to be a much better alternative.
Can someone please tell me why we don’t redevelop the original (old) Milton High School site in downtown Alpharetta instead of breaking ground on a completely new site in a part of the county that doesn’t have the infrastructure to support it?
It is not that I don’t understand the need for the Board of Education to make its site selections in secrecy or not to be subject to local zoning. In this day in age when everyone wants “it” but no one wants “it” in their backyard, sometimes the only way to get things done is to force the issue with government control, as disappointing as that is to our democratic foundations. Plus, there are issues around land speculation and controlling the cost of the property to be acquired that I’m sure have contributed to the system that we have today.
However, saying that I understand why we give the Board of Education the authority we do doesn’t mean that I don’t believe that a better solution could have been found than building a new high school on the west side of Freemanville Road just before the gated entrance to White Columns. I only wonder now if we stand a chance of reversing the decision and adopting what I think is the better option of redeveloping the original site of Milton High School.
It is also sadly ironic that the desire for local control over land use, which was the major driving force in forming the new City of Milton, has been overrun so blatantly by Fulton County and now the Board of Education. I’ve written before how Fulton County gave Milton the figurative finger in the final days of its authority and passed resolutions that, in my humble opinion, will adversely affect Crabapple for years to come. Now enters the Board of Education with a decision to place a high school right in the middle of Milton. This decision by a Board that has one elected representative from this area also seems destined to have long term repercussions on Milton.
If I were given an opportunity to respond to the Board’s decision, this is what I’d say: Placing a new high school on Freemanville Road impacts The City of Milton in ways that it doesn’t have to.
Traffic
Traffic is the number one issue in all of North Fulton and while I agree that the placement of a school doesn’t necessarily create new traffic, it just sends it to different destinations, I don’t totally agree. Teachers and staff will have to get to the new school which means more traffic that doesn’t exist today trying to get through two lane intersections through out Milton. When school is in, the wait in the morning at the stop sign at Freemanville Road and Providence Road is already about 30-40 cars in each direction.
Community Disturbance
While I’m sure the design of a new high school would be well thought out (the new Milton HS looks great), and while I’m not totally convinced that a new school would have that much adverse affect on the surrounding property values (Six Hills and Kensington Farms still are doing well), we just don’t need a big new high school - plus potentially a middle school - right in the middle of Milton. Milton has an undeniable rural character coupled with low density. That is the differentiator between Milton and other local communities. Putting a large high school right in the middle of the “city” would affect the rural character. Why would we want to devalue our biggest asset, particularly when there are other options? If the site on Freemanville were the last site available, I’d say build the school there, but it is not the last site or the only viable site.
I’m not naive enough to believe that a parcel of land over 100 acres will go undeveloped for long in Milton, but what we need at that site is not a school - or another subdivision for that matter. If I were playing my own version of SimCity with Milton, I’d put a small government center there possibly with a library. Milton has no “center” now. For that matter we don’t really have any assets as a city, no real parks, trails, recreation centers, senior centers, meeting space. Heck, the City Council and administration is at an office park off Windward Parkway.
Where is the vision of what Milton will look like ten years from now? If we think it won’t continue to get developed we are kidding ourselves. If our local government doesn’t put some of the remaining land into the public trust, it will all be developed.
Septic
When the Kings Ridge school was proposed on this site, it was estimated that for 700 students a 30,000 gallon per day septic system would be needed. If you have a 2000 student high school and you add in some staff, simply math tells you that you’ll need a septic system to support around 100,000 gallons per day. (For reference, a rule of thumb in sizing residential septic systems is that each occupant produces 60 gallons per day of waste, which includes cooking, bathing and washing.)
I’m sure that the School Board has considered the ramifications of having a septic system that large. OK, maybe I’m not completely sure. Summit Hill Elementary is the only current Fulton County school on septic and everything I’ve ever heard is that it is a headache. In fact, there are two septic systems at Summit Hill: one main and one backup. That is why the school sits so far off the road; the large front field is where the drain field is located.
Again, I ask: Why would you go to all the trouble of building a school with such a huge septic system when you have a site in Alpharetta that is already on public sewer?
Development Cost
I have no idea how much is budgeted for construction of the new high school. It cost $65.6M including the land to build the new Milton High School in Crabapple. The School Board apparently has $25M set aside for land purchases for a new high school and middle school. Why spend so much money acquiring new land when you already have a parcel in downtown Alpharetta? Not to mention that my amateur logic suggests that it would be less expensive to raze that site and build a new school than to do all the dirt work, septic work, road and turning lane work and utility work that would be required at a greenfield site.
I’m not sure how the Board of Education reached its decision on the location of a new high school. Even if they are allowed to work autonomously, it would be nice for them to share their thought process after the fact, if just to help us understand. There could be some over-riding rationale that we know nothing about.
Can We Unstick Ourselves?
For now, we are stuck with the Board’s decision. The main obstacle standing in the way of development is getting permitted for the septic system by the State Department of Natural Resources. Local government has absolutely no control over the outcome. It is time for State elected officials to step up and lead us to a better solution than what is currently proposed. Clearly we have to do something because Milton High School is projected to have 3000 students by 2011, about 1000 more than it was designed for.
The Milton/Alpharetta representative on the School Board is Katie Reeves. She is quoted in the Milton Herald as saying: “Regardless of where the high school is, there is going to be a hue and cry against it. We just have to make the best choices we can.”
It would be easy to dismiss the opposition to the proposed site as just some “hue and cry”, just another case of crying over spilt milk or over reaction by sensitive residents. Clearly a lot of the reaction is understandably emotional by nearby property owners.
However, just like every good joke has a kernel of truth in it, every good hue and cry has a kernel of truth in it, too. I’d like to know how this is the best choice we can make.
I could not have said it better! Thank you for your post.
I hope many in our community are able to read what you know about this new High School and demand our Milton City Council and House Representative, Jan Jones (who I hear is very close with Katie Reeves), to take a stand to help the community that voted them in office in the first place and convince the BOE to find another site for a High School and Middle School. Honestly, the more I learn about City Government and the politics here in Milton, the more discouraged I become.
Everyone seems to have a motive which either enhances their political career, someone else’s political career, special interests, or finding a way to sneak sewer into Milton without the public having much say about it. I hope folks get more involved, attend the Council meetings and see for themselves.
Thank you Kevin for a great blog! - Patti Silva
Kevin, thank you for reiterating what I have been saying from the first day after the announcement of a high school and possible middle school going on Freemanville Rd. More people in our community need to ask the same questions as you have posed and examine the big picture for Milton. Based on our density of 26,000 residents, how on earth could anyone reason that Milton needs another High School on Freemanville 2.8 miles from the new Milton High School. Alpharetta has over 60,000 residents and one high school, Alpharetta High. Who is the BOE building this school for in Milton? Nevertheless, all your points are true and I hope that more people in our community start to question the decisions like this that are made with our money but without our input. Decisions like these that affect our community on a broad range should be made more carefully. We are not zoned the same as Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Johns Creek, and Roswell therefore the BOE and no other commercial or governmental group should treat us the same and drop schools or commercialism right smack in the middle of Milton without direction from our citizens and our elected officials.
Thank you again. Lisa Cauley
Lisa:
You are absolutely incorrect. Alpharetta has 3 high schools - Alpharetta, Chattahoochee and Centennial. As for refurbishing Old Milton High School as another secondary education venue - 1) it already is being used as Independent High School and 2) it is located in the city of Alpharetta, which, as I just pointed out, already has 3 high schools. Given Milton’s current growth, a new high school is definitely in order.
Technically speaking, the city boundaries and the high school attendance zones don’t have anything to do with one another. You can live in Alpharetta and go to Milton High School, which is in Milton. You can live in Johns Creek and go to Chattahoochee High School, which is in Alpharetta. You can live in Roswell and go to Centennial High School. In fact, the vast majority of Centennial’s attendance zone is in Roswell.
I think the point of Lisa’s comment was that the area that is now the City of Milton was serviced by a high school that is in downtown Milton so it is not a huge stretch to consider reusing that site to serve the same population, particularly since the new Milton High School site is available actually in the City of Milton to handle the new growth.
The problem is that there are indeed two "new" schools (Independence High and Connected Academy)sharing the old milton high school facility so to use it they would have to be moved out. Plus, the Board of Education says that they cannot reuse that site because it isn’t big enough to build a "modern school" with all the ammenities that the new schools have and it is the Board policy to make sure that all students have equal facilities.
I’m not sure I believe this becuase the old milton high school site is 42 acres and the new North Fulton High School under construction on Medlock Bridge Road is only 45 acres. Do three more acres really make the difference? To me, the old milton high school is still the most logical choice even if you have to relocate the current occupants and build a three story school instead of two story school to reduce the footprint.
Of course, getting the School Board to listen to this is a very long shot. A new school on Freemanville is the course of least resistance for the BoE, but probably not the best outcome for the immediate area.
Excellent, what the hell is with ALL of the building?!
I gotta say I have only been on this side of town eight years, but in that eight years i have seen more beautiful trees fall and ugly;huge buildings go up than I ever have seen.
While I would like to see previously developed land get a facelift it is apparently cheaper for the school to start from scratch with new land. Keeping costs down for the taxpayer should be the concern for the school board. The old school will eventually get redeveloped by someone who will make more money from that location than the school board would. If the school board pays extra for demolition it cannot expect to recover that money while a developer will recoup the extra expenses in sales be it housing or commercial.
Paula