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Council debates minimum lot size for triplexes and quads; leaves the number for later review
Summary
State College council discussed lowering the proposed 10,000 sq ft minimum for triplex/quad lots to 7,000–9,000 to allow more missing‑middle housing, but members did not adopt a change and asked staff to return data on how many vacant lots would be enabled by different thresholds.
Councilmembers considered whether to lower the draft ordinance’s proposed minimum lot size for triplexes and quads in low‑density residential zones. Staff reported that lowering the minimum from 10,000 square feet to 7,000 would materially increase the number of lots eligible for triplex/quad development (roughly hundreds of parcels in the borough database), while 9,000 picks up far fewer parcels.
Some councilmembers, including Councilmember Herndon, said lowering to 7,000 would capture otherwise vacant infill parcels and promote missing‑middle housing. Others—including the mayor—warned that moving below 10,000 would constitute a large change to the character of low‑density neighborhoods and asked for more targeted community outreach before adopting such a reduction.
Staff noted it could supply a list of specific vacant parcel sizes to inform a future decision and reiterated that a further change to minimums could be revisited after the next draft and initial build‑out results.
Outcome: No change adopted at the work session. Council asked staff to return data showing how many vacant lots fall into ranges (10,000; 9,000; 8,000; 7,000) so members can weigh impacts before potentially lowering the minimum.
Next step: staff will return parcel‑by‑parcel counts and examples in a revised materials packet to help council decide whether to lower the threshold.
