College Township Council approves Shiloh Road rezoning

Council approved a rezoning ordinance Thursday that will add commercial and residential space along Shiloh Road between the Benner Pike and the border of Benner Township.

The rezoning incorporates about 140 acres of total land space on both the east and west sides of Shiloh Road. The largest section of rezoning encompasses about 87 acres bordering Benner Township that is rezoned as planned research business district, which provides for research, engineering and office uses as well as commercial uses in a business park setting, similar to Innovation Park at Penn State.

Along Benner Pike, about 37 acres along the east side of Shiloh will become C-1 commercial zoning, a range of retail, service and office uses. On the west side of the road, about 12 acres is rezoned as R-2 residential, creating moderately dense residential development.

The acreage was formerly zoned as agricultural.

Rezoning the acres is the culmination of about 15 years of study in the area, Council President Eric Bernier said. Since it lies within the regional growth boundary, plans on rezoning started in 2000.

Shiloh’s proximity to Interstate 99 provides easy access from a number of different communities, senior planner Mark Holdren said in a previous meeting, including State College, Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap. CATA would also be open to adjusting its routes to provide public transportation.

When discussions about rezoning began in May, worries were raised regarding the township drinking water. At the time, residents and the College Township Water Authority were concerned with the effect development could have on the adjacent Rogers Well, which sits near the intersection of Shiloh and Trout Road.

According to a report by the water authority in June, the well is protected under sourcewater protection zones, with the most restrictive protections at the time in the immediate 400 feet around the well.

As a result, Council unanimously approved a wellhead protection zone ordinance, increasing the protection around the wellhead to 1,200 feet around the well. The zone also creates a protection buffer around the sensitive environmental features within the zone, such as the highly permeable Nolin soils.

The zone prohibits noxious and hazardous uses near the well and the protected zones, Holdren said, such as auto wrecking, service stations and mining operations. The modified language in the ordinance also prohibits concentrated animal operations within the zone, requires any fills to be enforced as clean fills and reduces impervious coverage within the zone to 60 percent.

The zone also covers the State College Borough Water Authority wells adjacent to the township, Holdren said, as well as the Spring Creek Park wells and Millbrook Marsh.

Council also unanimously voted to change the official township map to reflect the changes.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "College Township Council approves Shiloh Road rezoning."