The Mt. Lebanon Commission is expected to vote by March 8 on the school district's conditional use requests and on final land development approval for the $113.2 million high school renovation.

Two public hearings held this week moved the project another step closer to a vote by the municipality's five-member commission.

The public hearings focused on the district's request for the construction and renovation of the high school on a property zoned R-1 single-family residential, and another request for an alternate parking plan, accomplished through a shared parking agreement between the municipality and the school district.

The hearings came about a month after the Mt. Lebanon planning board gave the school district unanimous recommendations for final land development approval for the planned renovation as well as unanimous recommendations for the two conditional uses.

The hearings included presentations by district superintendent Timothy Steinhauer and members of the high school design team, questions posed by the commission and more than a dozen comments from residents.

At the start of the hearings, commission President Dan Miller directed the municipality's solicitor, Phil Weiss, to read aloud the municipal guidelines for consideration of land use applications. The commission's standard of review may not include a project's cost or its effect on taxes, and any denial must specifically reference the ordinance provisions that were not met, he read.

A denial also can be supported if the project represents a "substantial threat" to the community, which is a heavy burden that cannot be met by "bald assertions, personal opinions and perceptions of the use and its effect on the neighborhood," Mr. Weiss read.

The high school renovation has been a topic of contention in Mt. Lebanon, especially in the past year, with many residents expressing concern over the cost and scope of the project. At the public hearings Monday night, several residents told the commissioners during public comments they believed the renovation plan would cause substantial traffic and parking problems.