A rezoning request for a proposed affordable senior housing apartment complex in Patton Township took a step forward last week.
The township’s board of supervisors voted 4-0 on Wednesday to support the rezoning of 160 W. Clearview Ave. from R-2 low density residential to R-3 medium density residential and to forward the request to the Centre Regional Planning Commission (CRPC) for further review.
HFL Corporation is looking to build a 31-unit apartment building for income-qualified individuals ages 55 and older on the property at the corner of Waddle Road and West Clearview Avenue. The 2.5-acre parcel, which HFL purchased in July for $625,000, was previously home to a Seven Mountains Media and had been a radio station dating back to the 1960s.
Since HFL submitted the rezoning request in May, neighboring residents have raised concerns about an apartment building’s impact on traffic at the already busy Waddle-Clearview intersection, stormwater management and the character of the neighborhood.
“The ambience of this neighborhood has always been a major selling point,” resident Larry Parko said. “A calm environment with quiet streets and park areas are important for families, especially those with children. The addition of this complex would severely impact the ambience of the neighborhood in a negative way, [in addition to the traffic concerns].”
It’s also led to discussions about the property’s future use as the Waddle Road corridor continues to develop as a more commercial and higher density residential area. It sits next to a neighborhood of single-family homes on Clearview Avenue, but also a student apartment complex and many nearby commercial and office properties.
As it currently stands, the property is not consistent with adjacent land-use, township senior planner Leslie Warriner said. Rezoning it to R-3 would be consistent with The Bryn student apartment complex, which borders it to the southeast.
R-2 zoning is defined as a buffer zone between rural and higher density residential sections, while R-3 zoning is suitable in areas near major highways, commercial areas and centers of employment.
“That corridor has been in consistent transition and it’s been a mix of commercial, a mix of office and a mix of residential, mostly R-3,” Warriner said.
One of the determinations for rezoning is whether it would be consistent with the comprehensive plan for the area. For this request, that’s “a little bit complicated,” Warriner said, because the proposal meets the goals of the 2013 comprehensive plan, but the future land use map anticipates the property will be commercial.
Supervisor Dan Trevino noted that neither the evolution of the Waddle Road corridor over the past two decades nor the long-range planning indicate that the property will be low-density residential in the future.
The board and planning commission have also discussed conducting a small area plan for the corridor, and some residents asked that the rezoning request be tabled until after that is completed.
Township Manager Amy Farkas said a small area plan could take up to a year, and in that time HFL could decide to back out and another developer could come in with a commercial rezoning request. That would be difficult to deny, given the existing comprehensive plan and future land use map.
“In a perfect world, we would have done a small area plan first before something like this happened, but we have the rezoning request in front of us,” she said.
“Delaying it possibly invites in other rezonings. We don’t want to lose the opportunity to direct where we want this to go, but also to not lose the opportunity of having something that’s residential and not having someone come in and say ‘I’m going to put in the new Wawa or the new Sheetz right there’ and rezone it commercial to fit that corridor.’”
Farkas added that township staff still want to pursue the small area plan, which would be done in collaboration with neighborhood residents, in 2024.
“That’s something we’d like to continue to move on if possible, because… that’s an area that’s in transition,” Farkas said. “…We need to really look at long-range what’s happening, especially with the other end of the corridor with Toftrees West and Toftrees Resort and some of the other things and how they all fit together.”
Waiting for the plan to be completed is unlikely to change the preferred potential use for the corner property, Trevino said. On the east side of Waddle Road from the I-99 interchange to Vairo Boulevard, only one single-family home remains. On the west side, more residential remains, but from the interchange to Seymore Avenue, a block north of Clearview, there are only two single-family homes.
The neighbors “views are very valid,” Trevino said, but approving the rezoning request would allow the Clearview Avenue property to remain a residential use that fits with the future land use of the corridor.
“I would like to ensure that it remains a dwelling, whether it’s multi-family or not,” he said. “At least that corner there will remain a residential area and not turn into an office complex or, heaven forbid, some kind of commercial space. Bottom line for me, I think it’s appropriate for us to go ahead and approve the rezoning request to R-3.”
CRPC is expected to review the request in November and the supervisors most likely won’t take final action until early 2024, Farkas said.
Once the rezoning is approved, HFL will be able to submit a land development plan for the apartment complex
“What I was hoping is, and we may not be able to, was that when that site plan comes in, we do whatever we can to minimize the impact to the adjacent residential properties,” board Chair Elliot Abrams said.
The land development process will offer an opportunity to do that, Farkas said. It will address stormwater management and will include a traffic impact study and any identified mitigation measures, Farkas said. Those measures may become even more important because, Trevino noted, traffic on Waddle Road will likely become heavier regardless of the apartment building, with the construction of a Penn Highlands hospital behind Cracker Barrel nearing completion, the future development of Patton Crossing on North Atherton Street and more drivers using Waddle Road to and from I-99.
“There is an opportunity there, once a land development plan is received by the township, to work on making sure we’re not making the situation worse and hopefully doing something to make the situation better for the residents out there,” Farkas said.
Supervisor Sultan Magruder said it “makes the most sense” to rezone the property for R-3 now, and urged residents to stay involved through the process.
“I would encourage people to continue to come out and have conversations,” he said.
