Rules may raise housing prices

Anne Danahy

BELLEFONTE — Rules and regulations meant to improve quality of life in Centre County could be part of what is standing in the way of affordable housing.

The county, in cooperation with the Centre Region Planning Agency, wants to address that by developing model ordinances and regulations that could be adopted by municipalities trying to promote affordable housing. The Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday morning to contribute $15,000 to the two-year project, which planners hope will also be funded by a $20,000 state grant.

Linda Marshall, county planner and housing coordinator, said municipalities have expressed an interest in providing for affordable housing, and to do that they and the county will have to take a look at regulations including zoning, land development, park land and street standards.

“All of those make it non-cost effective to develop affordable housing,” Marshall said. “So what we need to do is an inventory of the regulations that are currently out there, take a look at what changes need to occur and then look at what other communities have done throughout the state and the country.”

There has not been much along those lines done in Pennsylvania, Marshall said, so the guidelines that come out of the initiative could serve as a model in other parts of the state.

Those guidelines will include different regulations suited to urban, rural and suburban areas.

The project is part of an ongoing effort by county government, along with other municipal, human service and business agencies, to create more affordable housing in the county.

According to the Centre County Association of Realtors, the median sale price of a home in the State College area in October was $199,000. In the Bellefonte area it was $170,000.

Marshall said while developers have expressed an interest in building affordable housing, costs have meant that hasn’t become a reality.

Marshall said the county could find out in the next few weeks whether it will receive the state grant. The county’s contribution to the project includes $5,000 worth of inkind services and $10,000 from mortgage and deed recording fees. Centre Region planning also is contributing $5,000 inkind.

Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648.