Emotions are high over the construction of a new school to solve Towson's overcrowded elementary school problem.

Four households next to or very close to the Ridge Ruxton School at 6916 N. Charles St., designated as the site of the new West Towson Elementary School, filed suit last week to try to stop construction.

A "second school on the campus will be unsafe and too crowded to offer the best educational opportunities that Baltimore County children deserve," the suit claims.

The suit faces stiff community opposition. A recent post on the Towson Families United blog written by Rodgers Forge Elementary parent Cathi Forbes and representing more than 500 families who have fought hard for a fifth elementary school, says that West Towson Elementary should have opened last year, not in 2010 as is now planned.

"For a group of neighbors to try to delay it again verges on the immoral," the posting on the blog states, noting that Rodgers Forge Elementary has 714 students enrolled in a building meant for 396, and the entire fourth grade will have to be shipped to Dumbarton Middle School in September.

The lawsuit claims that putting a second school on the Ridge Ruxton campus will compromise the educational environment for both the existing special needs students at Ridge Ruxton and for new students at West Towson.

The suit also states that the plaintiffs' property values would be adversely affected by the new construction.

Safety, however, is their No. 1 concern, according to a statement issued on behalf of the plaintiffs: Sophia Dryer, Kurt and Cynthia Polins, Theodore and Christie Root and Henry and Karen Vail. In the statement, they contend North Charles Street is a high-speed, high-traffic thoroughfare that would pose a significant risk if an additional 450 young children were placed on the site.

There are no sidewalks next to the campus, which exacerbates safety concerns, and the complicated traffic patterns of two schools and more than 20 buses during rush hours makes for a situation that is not safe enough, they contend.

In addition, the plaintiffs say, with two schools on the proposed site, there will not be room for the fields and playgrounds that other county public school students enjoy. The plaintiffs say they believe there are alternate sites in the area better suited to relieve overcrowding in Rodgers Forge and Stoneleigh, while preserving existing educational opportunities students enjoy.

"Everyone wants new schools, but not at the cost of unilateral decision-making by our civic agencies, outside of stated policies and procedures, and with disregard to local communities," they said.

The plaintiffs said they filed suit because they feel their views have been ignored.

Towson Families United counters that there were no sidewalks when the Ridge Ruxton building was an elementary school, that the two schools on the site would have school days beginning and ending at different times, that public elementary schools do not generally use ball fields during recess, but use playgrounds instead -- the new school will have two -- and that the architects will design a school with a very small footprint.

The blog entry also contends that other potential sites were rejected long ago by the county and the state, and that the four plaintiffs had an opportunity to get involved when Towson Families United formed in January 2008, but chose not to, even though a major project was being discussed for their neighborhood.

Forbes said Monday that the school is something the community needs desperately.

"It should have happened automatically," she said. "This suit is just another bump in a long road."

But Margaret Fonshell Ward, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said her clients are equally adamant about preventing the construction of the school.

"They feel very strongly that what's at stake here is the lifelong investment they have made in their homes, which could have a three-story building literally towering over them."

Both the Smith administration and the Baltimore County school system declined to comment, saying their normal policy is to withhold comment on pending or ongoing litigation.

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