Proposed student housing at Westerly Parkway Plaza in State College sparks traffic, noise concerns
Plans for a student housing development in the Westerly Parkway Plaza were reviewed by the State College Planning Commission for the first time on Thursday, where some concerns about the additional noise, lighting and traffic were brought up.
The proposed site plan includes 22 buildings (21 of which will be housing, with one clubhouse), with a total of 142 units, Mark Torretti, project manager at PennTerra Engineering, said. Each housing unit will be between two and three stories high. Behind the clubhouse will be an amenity area with a pool, gazebos, grills, etc., in a fenced in and secure area. Plans show 546 bedrooms are proposed in the development.
The plan includes 418 parking spaces (including 10 handicap spaces spread throughout and one EV charging station parking space), Torretti said. Fifty bicycle parking spaces are included in the plan, although some planning commission members and residents said that wouldn’t be enough.
The Retreat at Westerly Parkway is planned for 560 Westerly Parkway, State College. It will be behind and to the side of the Weis shopping center, where businesses like Goodwill and Fuji & Jade Garden, My Thai and The Frame Factory and Gallery previously stood. Those tenants have all relocated since 2020.
Planning Commission member Mallory Meehan also had concerns about the additional traffic, especially when State High is in session just down the road.
“I know that Westerly Parkway gets really backed up, so we’re now going to be adding additional traffic flow outside there, when assuming these students are also trying to get to campus, if they are driving and not walking,” Meehan said.
There will be a traffic study conducted to determine what the traffic impacts will be with the new development. Additionally, CATA services will be available at the development, Torretti said, which will “hopefully minimize the amount of … daily traffic leaving to go to class.” The stop will likely be along Waupelani Drive but it has not been determined yet.
While anyone is welcome to live in the residences, Nick Lev, a developer at Landmark Properties, said it will be rented by the bed during the academic year. He did not say what the rent rates would be other than that they would charge market rate.
Another concern was the potential for additional light and noise in the area. Anita Genger, vice chair of the planning commission, asked what the applicant planned to do to screen the existing houses on Oneida Street and down Waupelani Drive from noise and lights from taller buildings. Lev said there will be a buffer of trees alongside the eastern side of the building.
“In terms of noise and light we have, you know, basically a code of conduct that we have all of our residents sign, and we hold people to that with a three strike rule to make sure that if there is noise and it is reported, we then let those residents know if they continue that behavior, you know, they have increasing fines and the potential to be evicted,” Lev said.
Landmark Properties, an off-campus housing developer headquartered in Georgia, has developed and/or manages several other student apartment complexes in State College, including The Station, The Legacy, The Metropolitan, The Standard and The Retreat. It is also proposing The Mark in downtown State College, which hasn’t made its way through the borough’s approval process yet.
Genger stressed that because many nearby houses are one story, any type of light will be hitting their bedroom area. She suggested the borough arborist work with the developer and talk with residents who live along Oneida about the light and noise.
Unlike many student housing developments in the Centre Region, it will only be residential use — not a mixed-use development. The goal of the development is to see the housing development and the existing shopping center, which includes the future Crunch Fitness, a Weis and more, “feed off one another,” Torretti said.
The area is zoned CP-3 (Planned Commercial District). Ed LeClear, director of planning and community development, said when the applicant submitted the land development plan, their legal team provided a memo analyzing the CP-3 district and argued that mixed use is not required on the site.
“We provided that to both the solicitor and the manager; (the) solicitor reviewed it at length, and his legal advice to the manager is that we’re to review it as submitted. So at this point, it will be residential entirely, and they do not need to meet the mixed use requirement as per the legal advice we’ve gotten,” LeClear said. At least two planning commission members were disappointed in that and said it was taking away potential commercial or business opportunities.
Alongside preliminary plans for The Retreat at Westerly, the commission also reviewed a subdivision plan for the existing Westerly Parkway Shopping Center, which proposes replotting some parcels and consolidating them to accommodate the proposed land development. By creating the larger tax parcel for the housing development, the shopping center and Toasted Bagel Café will not be affected.
The parking requirements for the shopping center will still be met with the replot, Torretti said.
Borough staff will incorporate the commission’s comments on the land development into a plan review letter, which will then be sent to the applicant. The council doesn’t vote on the land development plan, just the subdivision proposal, and is expected to review the subdivision during its Dec. 16 meeting.
