What will happen to the historic Station Road schoolhouse? Township, would-be owners, neighbors involved

West Chester Twp. was poised to sell the old school to the Minniears for $250,000 as part of a settlement in a lawsuit the school owners filed. However, some neighbors who oppose the sale intervened in the lawsuit and convinced Magistrate Justin Lane and Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Muench-McElfresh the lawsuit was moot.

RELATED: Legal issues doom the sale of the historic Station Road schoolhouse

The township’s zoning board of appeals nixed the sale last summer due to traffic and other concerns, and the Minniears filed an administrative appeal in the common pleas court. In December, Lane nullified the Minniears’ appeal because it was filed under a corporate name by Minniear, and he is not an attorney and couldn’t legally file the appeal.

“The court finds that the notice of appeal in this matter is a nullity and strikes it from the record,” Lane wrote.

The Minniears hired an attorney, Jay Bennett, at the end of November. During the hearing last month he told the magistrate the situation doesn’t have the same set of circumstances that the rules about corporations and lawsuits were designed to prevent.

“I believe to totally dismiss that, if that is where the court is leaning, would be incredibly harsh,” Bennett said. “I understand the rule about not allowing corporate entities to represent themselves, but when we’re talking about corporate entities, we’re talking about shareholders and officers and boards of directors and those types of things. My client is J. Lyn Properties.”

The township trustees agreed to sell the schoolhouse to the Minniears — who plan to put an addition on the building to expand their school programs — because they said it is a “money pit” and a drain on township resources.

MORE: Neighbors oppose sale of historic Station Road schoolhouse

Neighbors opposed the sale, and some — like those who intervened in the lawsuit — want to see it turned into a historical museum.

Tim Mara, the attorney representing the intervening neighbors, said those neighbors are weighing their options and should have a decision on how they will proceed by week’s end.

“I suspect we will do something, there are some alternative courses of action available to us,” he said. “We haven’t made a decision yet.”

Township spokesperson Barb Wilson said West Chester has no involvement in the appeal.