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The Mt. Lebanon zoning hearing board last month refused to relax a law blocking secondary or accessory buildings more than 14 feet high in a residential zone. The natatorium would stand two stories on a plot across from the high school.

To comply with the law, architects would have to widen the building and move a mechanical room from the upper to the bottom level, adding $325,000 in construction costs.

"There are a few ways that we are trying to resolve this," said project architect Robert Pillar of Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann. "One is a redesign that meets the zoning ordinance, however that would require additional square footage to be built."

District Solicitor Tom Peterson is meeting with municipal officials to discuss other options, including working with the municipality to alter the zoning law or appealing the zoning hearing board's decision.

"I think there's some willingness to discuss redoing the ordinance so that a residential zoning requirement doesn't apply to our campus," said board Vice President Joe Rodella.

Bill Lewis, of Mt. Lebanon, wants to know why officials didn't consider zoning laws sooner.

"I'm absolutely amazed that this issue is coming up now," he said. "This should have come up three years ago when you began discussing this project. One of the first things you do is check the zoning regulations."

Earlier this year, school board members authorized Burt Hill to begin the design and development phase of a $5 million natatorium across from the high school at Horsman and Stadium drives.

The lower level would house a 10-lane, 25-meter pool while the upper level would contain restrooms, locker rooms, bleachers and a community multi-purpose room.

The board learned in June that the project was $600,000 over budget after architects found that the pool would be built over 25 feet of fill. To prevent the pool from shifting, caissons would have to be sunk into the ground, costing about $100,000. The remaining $500,000 was attributed to rising materials costs.

Instead of masonry and structural steel, Burt Hill has now proposed a metal structure, slashing the cost by $339,000.

Pillar told the board it could also save an additional $900,000 by removing seating, ceramic tiles on the deck floor, limestone pieces on the building, the front entrance canopy and painting the open structure instead of using plastic veneer ceilings.

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