State College Advances CVS Plan, Takes over Bar-Noise Enforcement

State College Borough Council cleared the way Monday for a new CVS drug store at South Atherton Street and University Drive.

At their regular meeting, council members also learned that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has approved the borough’s request to monitor and enforce — exclusively — noise and noise standards at bars and restaurants in town.

On the CVS matter, council members voted 5-0 to approve a conditional-use application, a move that will enable development of a CVS Pharmacy at 1630 S. Atherton St. Only council members Don Hahn and Jim Rosenberger were absent.

The project required special approval because it’s to include a drive-up window. Property owner Nicholas Heim and Kissinger Associates plans to demolish the existing structure on the site — now a Ponderosa restaurant — to make way for the new, 13,244-square-foot pharmacy and store.

On the noise-enforcement matter, borough Manager Tom Fountaine told the council that the PLCB rendered its decision June 15 — effective immediately.

The move, sought by a majority of council and the State College Tavern Association, will give the borough police the exclusive ability to monitor liquor-licensed establishments’ amplified-music noise and to cite them if the noise becomes too unwieldy outside.

Until now, both the borough police and the state Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement — the BLCE — could issue citations on that front. But a number of local establishment operators have said that the borough approach is more fair and equitable. (More thorough coverage of the issue is available in this earlier report.)

The change will not affect the BLCE’s ability to monitor and cite local establishments over other alcohol-related concerns, such as underage drinking.

Fountaine said the PLCB’s decision on noise enforcement will remain in effect through December 2012. At some point before then, he said, Borough Council will need to evaluate whether the new approach is working well — and whether it should be continued.

Also Monday, the council received an update on the borough’s plans to modernize and streamline its internal computing systems. The effort should ultimately help the borough to better collect and process data, enabling more effective decision-making processes and more efficient work flows, assistant borough Manager Roger Dunlap said.

He said the project, to cost no more than $855,000, is expected to come in well under budget. The borough’s ‘core business modules’ are tentatively slated to shift to a new computing system in January. More immediately, the borough is expecting to award a software-vendor contract next month.

Earlier coverage

• Downtown Street Trees Mistakenly Removed, State College Borough Confirms (June 20, 2011)
  

• State College Seeks Local Control for Bar-Noise Enforcement (April 19, 2011)

• New CVS Pharmacy Tentatively Planned in State College (May 16, 2011)

• State College Borough Council Tentatively OKs Reduced Discovery Space Funding (June 6, 2011)

• Tech Overhaul Promises Gov’t Savings, Consultant Tells State College Council (Oct. 17, 2010)