The high school-focused borough council meeting, which took the shape of a conditional hearing last night, was met with surprising support from the community, despite the nature of past debates regarding the issue. This is likely because the conditional hearing allowed only “non-repetitive statements of fact” to be included as testimony, and any previous written or oral comments may not be included in the deliberation.
The hearing was focused on the school district’s proposal to reduce the mandatory parking space number for the new high school building. According to borough zoning codes, the new State College Area High School would be required to have at least 968 parking spaces on the north side of the parkway. Council members have encouraged the school district to seek permission for conditional use, which would allow the site to have as few as 484 spaces.
The district’s plan now calls for 576 spaces, down nearly half from the 1,093 initially planned.
Residents who spoke were mostly in support of reducing the parking, stressing the need to preserve as much green space as possible and prevent future stormwater drainage problems.
Some speakers expressed concern regarding problems with drainage, stressing that the district should make a better effort to position the parking away from Holmes-Foster residents and keep it off the field altogether. Other concerns included drifting fumes, noise, and nighttime light from a bus loading and parking area that is still planned for Community Field.
State High still has 338 parking spaces present on the South Side of Westerly Parkway, with the current total number of spaces at 718. Renovating just the north parking at this time will still increase the number of spaces.
However, some residents expressed concern that, if the number of spaces was reduced too much, parking would overflow onto nearby streets.
The council now has 45 days to decide whether to approve the parking plan. They are scheduled to discuss the information presented at the hearing at a work session on Nov. 13.
The hearing was focused on the school district’s proposal to reduce the mandatory parking space number for the new high school building. According to borough zoning codes, the new State College Area High School would be required to have at least 968 parking spaces on the north side of the parkway. Council members have encouraged the school district to seek permission for conditional use, which would allow the site to have as few as 484 spaces.
The district’s plan now calls for 576 spaces, down nearly half from the 1,093 initially planned.
Residents who spoke were mostly in support of reducing the parking, stressing the need to preserve as much green space as possible and prevent future stormwater drainage problems.
Some speakers expressed concern regarding problems with drainage, stressing that the district should make a better effort to position the parking away from Holmes-Foster residents and keep it off the field altogether. Other concerns included drifting fumes, noise, and nighttime light from a bus loading and parking area that is still planned for Community Field.
State High still has 338 parking spaces present on the South Side of Westerly Parkway, with the current total number of spaces at 718. Renovating just the north parking at this time will still increase the number of spaces.
However, some residents expressed concern that, if the number of spaces was reduced too much, parking would overflow onto nearby streets.
The council now has 45 days to decide whether to approve the parking plan. They are scheduled to discuss the information presented at the hearing at a work session on Nov. 13.
