After meeting on Wednesday for a second time with a representative from developer Toll Brothers for further discussion about possible alternative sites for a planned student housing development, members of the Nittany Valley Water Coalition came away encouraged.
‘It went extremely well,’ said coalition member David Hughes. ‘Since our last meeting two weeks ago they went and looked at some of the alternative sites we suggested. They worked with local engineers to look at the suitability of those sites and really did their homework. They came back very interested in developing elsewhere.’
The meeting was the coalition’s second with Charles Elliott, Toll Brothers’ managing director for apartment living. In their last meeting on Aug. 2, the coalition proposed seven different lots, all owned by Penn State, as potential alternatives to the planned location near the intersection of Whitehall Road and Blue Course Drive in Ferguson Township, where some have concerns about the project’s impact on source water.
On Wednesday, Elliott indicated one of those sites — located on West College Avenue in front of the Penn State Golf Course’s Blue Course property — was of most interest for its proximity to the University Park campus and downtown, according to the coalition.
Since 2012, Toll Brothers has had an agreement to purchase from Penn State for $13.5 million 44 acres of land in Ferguson Township, where the developer plans to build a a 264-unit luxury student housing development called The Cottages at State College. Penn State remains the landowner until the development can proceed.
After the project was approved in 2015 by the Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors, a group of 15 neighboring landowners formed the Nittany Valley Water Coalition and sued to have the approval of the plan overturned, arguing it violated township ordinances and the state’s Municipal Planning Code. Though a Centre County judge ruled in the coalition’s favor last summer, a state Superior Court panel overturned that decision earlier this year.
The coalition has petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear the case.
Nittany Valley Water Coalition is part of a contingent of residents who have been vocal in their opposition to building on the Ferguson Township land, citing the potential effects of construction and stormwater runoff on the nearby Slab Cabin Run and Harter-Thomas well fields, the source of drinking water for the majority of homes served by the State College Borough Water Authority.
Hughes said that in their meetings to date Elliott has been open-minded, and that Elliott’s team has worked hard over the past two weeks to evaluate the sites.
Toll Brothers will next conduct architectural and economic analyses, Hughes said.
The coalition previously has had talks with Penn State officials, and Hughes said that so far they’ve indicated no major objections to substituting a different parcel for sale to Toll Brothers
‘I hope, given the enormous public opposition to the Whitehall site.. that Penn State is listening to this,’ he said. ‘And now they see there is a site that has been proposed, that Toll Brothers likes. It’s close to the university and Penn State should sell it. We can all move on and realize this is a coming together of three partners here – the university, the developer and the community.’
Coalition members know nothing is a done deal yet, and that it will take time if the land swap moves forward.
‘We’re more confident we will find a solution that satisfies the community, satisfies the university… and satisfy the developer,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to box anyone into a corner. We’re just really happy the Toll Brothers have worked very hard over the last two weeks to focus on these alternative sites and come back with some really clear ideas of what would work for them. It couldn’t have gone any better for us.’
Wednesday marked 75 days that residents have occupied the Whitehall Road site with a small encampment. On July 20 Penn State, which owns the land until the planned development can proceed, posted ‘No Trespassing’ signs, saying the encampment violated university policies and that signs posted near the roadway were in violation of township ordinances.
Hughes said the issue has not been pressed further by the university or the township.
