‘Compromise’ is reached in noise issue with State College marching band and local neighbors
After several years of disagreement between a State College neighborhood and the high school marching band, a more permanent solution involving noise and practice times has finally been reached — although neither side is completely happy.
According to a new amendment to the zoning ordinance, formally approved by Borough Council on Monday, State College Area’s marching band will now be permitted to practice at the South Track Facility under the 70-foot lights until 8:30 p.m. two days a week. Before the amendment, an agreement was in place that needed to be renewed every year and often caused contention between neighbors and band supporters.
Earlier this year, neighbors asked the marching band be limited to practicing once a week at the South Track Facility with an 8 p.m. end time. The State College Area School District requested twice-weekly practices with 8:45 p.m. end times, before the borough’s planning commission recommended 8:30 p.m. twice a week.
Borough Council voted to follow that recommendation, and that is now the permanent solution — unless council decides to change it in the future. The year-to-year operations agreement is no longer in effect.
“Again, this was a compromise after hearing a lot of different information from both sides of the issue,” borough planning director Ed LeClear said at an earlier meeting. “At this point, as we’ve said a number of times, we know it’s not making anybody incredibly happy. But we think it tries to get to the point where the school district has the flexibility to use the field the way they need to — perhaps not as long as they’d like to — and the neighbors have some certainty about how it’s going to be used and some limitation on the band practice.”
A public hearing was held Monday night, but no one spoke in favor or against the changes. Little overall discussion was had, in part because so many other meetings were held this past year. (In March, both the district and the neighborhood offered respective presentations to Borough Council; and both sides also spoke with the borough planning commission.)
The noise from the marching band, along with the lights at the South Track Facility, became an issue in the wake of school renovations around 2019. The band moved its practice location to the South Track, irking neighbors who previously were not bothered, and the location quickly became a point of contention.
By one neighbor’s count, more than 50 homes are impacted by noise because they’re within 1,000 feet of the South Track Facility — but those closest to the track, on Edgewood Circle, include about a half-dozen homes. They’ve reported rattling windows, lights that illuminate rooms with blinds drawn and a lower quality of life over roughly a 10-week period.
On the flip side, band supporters have pointed out that the former location — a parking lot — is no longer acceptable, even if the area remained available after construction. School officials also said there are no good alternative practice spots, while others in the community have essentially said the concerns of the few should not outweigh the priorities of the many.
“We can’t fix it,” LeClear added. “This is a situation where there are simply two objectives that compete, and we’re trying to find some middle ground.”
Besides the marching band, operation of the lights will also be allowed until 9 p.m. for all other SCASD uses of the South Track Facility. And non-SCASD use of the track is prohibited when the lights are on.
Marching band practices typically run for two hours apiece between August and October. Starting this August, they’ll end at 8:30 p.m.
Borough Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve the amendment.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
