Car dealership expansion, church additions: 3 recently approved Ferguson Township plans

Three more projects are moving forward in Centre County after the Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors approved a trio of plans at last week’s meeting.

The township’s supervisors approved a preliminary land development plan, a final land development plan and a minor redevelopment plan for a building addition with parking and sidewalk improvements at the Nittany Bible Church, a new Blaise Alexander Mazda Hyundai car dealership and the redevelopment of an existing building into a place of worship by the State College Access Church, respectively.

Each plan was unanimously approved with little discussion, due in part to the work that was done by the board, township’s planning commission and other staff members before the July 7 meeting.

“I just want to say that the lack of discussion is, from my viewpoint, is because we covered this earlier,” Supervisor Matthew Heller said. “I just appreciate staff’s ability and thought process in this to get it in front of the board and have a discussion about it before, so that when it comes in front of the board for the final disposition, we have the information, et cetera, already.”

The first plan approved was the preliminary land development plan for a 1,189-square-foot building addition with parking and sidewalk improvements at the Nittany Bible Church, located at 461 Deibler Road. The specific sidewalk improvements and purpose for the addition was not shared at the meeting.

The second plan was a new, 23,000-square-foot car dealership building at Blaise Alexander Mazda Hyundai, located at 1703 W. College Ave. It which would be the second dealership building on the Blaise Alexander property, along with a 3,426-square-foot, automated car wash.

The new dealership building will be built behind the existing auto sales building and body shop, and the car wash will be built near the rear of the dealership’s property, near the Pine Hall Cemetery’s northeastern corner, although a construction timeline was not shared. The new building is labeled the “Hyundai building” in the development plans.

“I want to extend a bit of gratitude to Blaise Alexander,” Supervisor Jeremie Thompson said. “Some of the competition in town has opted to or is exploring leaving the township. Blaise Alexander is actually expanding in the township, so we appreciate their business and service to our community.”

The third and final plan was a minor development plan for the redevelopment of an existing building on a 2.7-acre parcel of land at 2171 Sandy Drive into a place of worship for the State College Access Church.

Currently, the site houses a variety of businesses, including administrative office buildings, commercial schools, an archival library “and those of similar character,” according to the township’s staff report for the project. When completed, the building will be turned into worship center with American Disabilities Act-approved sidewalk expansions, two 12-foot by 12-foot sheds and a redesign of the existing parking lot to contain fewer spaces.

A construction timeline for the worship center was not shared either, although updates on that project — and others — will be shared at future Ferguson Township Supervisor meetings, which take place at 7 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.