Advocates of a charter school in Alpine paint their opponents as being against alternatives to public schools. This is an overreach at best, and mean-spirited at worst.

The Mountainville Academy has bounced from one proposed site to another because of resident objections to traffic, not to the concept of charter schools. This is not about school choice but whether a neighborhood can handle 1,300 additional car trips per day.

Part of Alpine's rustic charm is the fact that it lies off the beaten path. The city is essentially wedged against the mountain. While this makes the community quiet and scenic, it also means traffic can have a disproportionate impact.

The school plans to have 675 students. Since charter schools by nature, do not have specific catchment areas, students could travel from all over Utah and south Salt Lake counties to get to the Mountainville Academy. There is no school bus, so parents will drive their children to school. Let's assume that there will be an average of two kids per car going to the school. That works out to 338 cars going to and from the school twice a day, totaling 1,352 individual car trips. That's equivalent to 34 percent of the city's adult population getting in their cars and driving to one spot simultaneously every day.

The traffic matter is not just a quality-of-life issue. It is also a matter of public safety. A traffic logjam in one part of the city could make it difficult for police, fire and ambulance crews to respond to an emergency. In the winter, a traffic hot spot is liable to contribute to air pollution problems.

The American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork experienced similar traffic problems, with cars lining up for more than half a mile at peak periods. ALA's traffic problem is mitigated in small part by the fact that the school is located in a fairly remote part of the city, not in a residential area, but it is still a nuisance for the people who live in the neighborhood and the people who use the school.

Public schools usually do not have the traffic problems associated with a charter school because they draw students from a specific geographic area, giving students the option to walk or ride bikes. Also, public schools may bus students, eliminating many cars in each direction.

Either Mountainville's board needs to find a more remote place to build its school to minimize the traffic problems in Alpine's neighborhoods, or it needs to come up with a transportation plan that can minimize the number of cars going to and from the school.

Unlike public schools, charter schools can compel parental involvement. In this case, the school should consider using that power to organize larger carpools.

Another option is for the school to provide some of its own transportation for students, either with a school bus or a fleet of commuter vans.

If Mountainville is willing to take some steps to show it is a good neighbor and willing to work to relieve traffic problems, the school's founders may find Alpine a more hospitable place.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A5.