COG Approval Allows Tussey Mountain to Move Forward With Plans for Lodge Expansion, Other Upgrades

The Centre Region Council of Governments General Forum on Monday unanimously approved a measure that will allow Tussey Mountain to advance plans for expansion of the lodge and other improvements at the ski and recreation resort in Boalsburg.

Approval of the Development of Regional Impact expands the Regional Growth Boundary and Sewer Service Area to include 41.4 acres of the Tussey Mountain property, a necessary step for the expansion and renovation plans to move forward.

Tussey, which has been adjacent to the Regional Growth Boundary, has had public sewer service since the early 1990s, but the scope of the project requires an increase in sewer line capacity that required it to be formally brought into the boundary and Sewer Service Area.

The DRI was previously reviewed and supported by the Harris Township Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission and the Centre Regional Planning Commission.

Josh Lincoln, managing partner of Tussey Mountain, first brought the proposal to the Harris Township supervisors in 2024 to gauge their interest in supporting it. He said one of his ownership group’s goals when they acquired it in 2022 was to revitalize a property that had “dilapidated considerably” since it was built in the 1960s.

Ownership’s conceptual plan for reinvestment includes renovation and expansion of the existing lodge to incorporate a large event venue, new bar and restaurant, retail space and conference facilities. New outbuildings are also planned for the ski school, ski patrol and maintenance facility.

“The lodge was built in the ’60s, and what it was built for is very different from how it’s utilized now,” Lincoln said at a Harris Township Board of Supervisors meeting in April. “So we we were going to have to expand the footprint of the lodge from what it is now.”

Tussey originally proposed including the entire 134.8-acre property in the growth boundary, but agreed to reduce the area in order to protect the mountainside, which is zoned natural areas, from future development.

The land that will now be within the growth boundary is at the base of the mountain and is zoned agricultural. It will not require rezoning for the improvement plans.

The lodge expansion and other construction will need to go through the township’s land development plan process before they can occur. Transportation impacts will be addressed during that process, said Pam Adams, Centre Region Planning Director.

“They’re aware of that intersection [at Bear Meadows Road and Boal Avenue] and wanting to make sure there’s safe road conditions,” Adams said.

The DRI received widespread support from reviewing agencies in part because it represents reinvestment “in an existing regional area instead of creating a new development area,” Adams explained.

“Supporting reinvestment is a very strong interest in our community,” she said. “It makes sense to do this.”

The planned project also appears to have minimal impact on municipal services and the environment, and is consistent with both the regional comprehensive plan and Boalsburg Small Area Plan.

Following approval of the DRI, final steps for expanding the growth boundary and service area are a comment letter from the Centre Regional Planning Commission to the township and a developer agreement between the township and the property owner.

The improvement project is expected to be completed in phases, Harris Township Manager Mark Boeckel said earlier this year. A project timeline has not yet been announced.