Developer presents sketch plan for 40,000 sq. ft. medical office in Bellefonte; council asks about traffic and screening

Mark Seville of HRG Engineering presented a sketch land-development plan for a proposed 40,000-square-foot, two-story medical office building that would consolidate walk-in care, imaging, primary care, pediatric services and a child-advocacy center into one Bellefonte location.

Seville described a relocated driveway intended to improve sight distance and arrival circulation, on-site parking sized to the zoning ordinance's parking-count requirements, and 6-foot solid fencing to screen transformers and mechanical equipment from the adjacent neighborhood. He said the design will provide emergency-vehicle circulation and place loading, transformers and generators at the building's rear.

Council members asked about driveway access at nearby signalized intersections and whether the project would depend on PennDOT signal timing; Seville said the driveway is full-access and that the team is preparing a traffic-impact analysis with PennDOT and the borough's consultant. He also said the project will retain other existing accesses to the current parking lot and is seeking sight-distance improvements.

Neighbors asked about noise from mechanical equipment; Seville said transformers and an emergency generator will be at the rear and that significant noise impacts were not expected but that the design team will review details. Staff and council members asked for formal land-development submission and indicated the developer expects to file a formal plan for review in about a month.

Next steps: HRG will complete the traffic-impact analysis and submit formal land-development documents for borough review and public comment.