Housing development for ‘diverse community’ in early stages of planning for College Township
A new housing development along Puddintown Road is in the early planning stages for College Township.
Ethan Wendel and Daniel Haverkos, of Mosaic Community Development, LLC, submitted a sketch plan to the College Township Planning Commission and presented during Tuesday’s meeting. They are planning to develop a four-acre plot of land on Puddintown Road, near the intersection with College Avenue in State College.
The development is proposed include single family duplex housing, multifamily apartment units and green space, according to the project narrative. The property will be designed to accommodate “families and individuals of various ages, sizes and economic means,” the narrative states.
“One of the things that has been challenging is there just isn’t a lot of building that combines different economic and different age groups. You know, it’s you put all the kids in student housing and all the adults in McMansions somewhere else and all of the older people in old retirement homes and all of the younger people here,” Wendel said.
“We just find that that’s not conducive to any development of young people in a real sense, of seeing a family live and seeing how we do community and seeing how we engage with life and actually being able to, you know, come over and have a beer on the back porch and hang out because we live next to each other because we’re so segregated,” Wendel said. “That’s really why we’re targeting a diverse community that can accommodate different people of different economic statuses all living in one place where we can have some sense of community, that’s not based solely on where do you go to work and how much you get paid.”
The maximum proposed units include three duplex housing (six units), one duplex style building with four units, one quadplex style building with 16 apartments and one quadplex style building with 12 apartments.
The photos included in the presentation aren’t necessarily the exact design of the complexes, as they haven’t gotten into the architectural layout, Wendel said. But they’re envisioning a “modern, industrial feel.”
Commission member Robert Hoffman praised the architectural design.
“I find it to be exciting, the materials you’re using, the scale of the units that you’re doing. As it goes through the planning process, I hope you can keep some of that because it’s refreshing to see units that are clean and detailed in simplistic ways and not the stuff that we’ve seen for the last 60 years or more,” Hoffman said.
Of the 38 units, there will be at least four units dedicated as workforce housing. Wheelchair and ADA accessible units will be available, too, Wendel said.
The building and pavement will take up 1.23 acres of the 3.92 acre plot. The remaining 2.69 acres will be maintained green space along Thompson Run.
The developer isn’t requesting any township waivers at this point. The proposed development includes sidewalk construction.
“We’ve proposed to include sidewalk construction along the full length of Puddintown Road to College Avenue. This is a challenge ... because if you’re familiar with this, if you’ve ever walked this or run this, down at the end where College Avenue and Puddintown meet, the road is very skinny. There’s a drop off, there’s a bridge, there’s a culvert and I am looking for ideas,” Wendel said.
The commission received a letter from ClearWater Conservancy with concerns primarily about stormwater runoff, commission member Bill Sharp said. The plan shows two underground stormwater retentions, Wendel said. Their next step is to go to the Department of Environmental Protection to start the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System process, he said.
Overall, the commission expressed excitement about the development and was eager to learn more.
“This is a very interesting plan. I’ll be watching this development to see how you all proceed with your future developments because it’s exciting, a kind of place I wouldn’t mind living,” commission member William McKibbin said.
Once the community is developed, Wendel said they intend to put in a pool for the residents of the community. Commission member Matthew Fenton asked if there would be public access to the green space, if someone wanted to enjoy the stream, for example. People do that now so he doesn’t anticipate it being an issue in the future, Wendel said.
Because it’s a sketch plan and still in the early stages, the commission didn’t vote on it. Rather, they offered feedback and comments to the developers. Wendel and Haverkos will present the sketch plan during Thursday’s College Township Council meeting as well.
