City Council members ruled unanimously this week that the Planning Commission erred April 4, when it rejected allowing construction of Mountainville Academy on about seven acres near 365 E. 100 South.

Planners nixed the school because of traffic concerns and a state law that bans building on a flood plain. But council members, on the advice of City Attorney David Church and the Utah League of Cities and Towns, say the state does not empower them to decide if that law applies in this case.

“This goes to the Utah County Department of Health,” Councilman Tracy Wallace said Wednesday, the day following the council's vote. “The county is the authority over that particular rule.”

It also goes back to the Planning Commission, which council members directed to work with Mountainville Academy's backers and the developer to mitigate residents' concerns about traffic and safety. They said state law does not allow the city to stop a charter school from coming.

Fact is, Councilman Thomas Whitchurch attested, state law allows charter schools in all zones. He said U.S. Charter, the developer contracted to construct the school, is not even required to get city approval.

Whitchurch's wife, Rebecca, is chief executive officer of Mountainville's board. City law bans council members from voting when they stand to "realize substantial financial gain." Whitchurch said earlier he would recuse himself due to residents' concerns about a conflict of interest, but he reversed course and voted Tuesday.

He said neither he nor his wife are receiving any money from the charter school. Despite his vote, he is not persuaded the current location is the most suitable site.

“There are issues around that location,” he said. “Can those issues be mitigated? I think they can. But I'd like to be able to come up with a compromise that will work for everybody so there are not such divisive feelings in the city.”

Martin Southwick was one of many dismayed by the council's stand on the school.

“I wish they would find another location,” said Southwick, who worries about traffic clogging neighborhood streets and posing a threat to children.

If the 50,000-square-foot school opens as planned this fall, it will number 675 students from kindergarten through the eighth grade - many of whom will have to be driven to and from the academy.

The charter's curriculum will stress academics, particularly math and language arts.

meddington@sltrib.com