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Neighborhood leaders press borough for clearer access to vacant warehouse as community center
Summary
Residents and the Learning Tree nonprofit urged the Carlisle Borough Council to give the group more stable access to a vacant warehouse for after‑school, senior and community programming, arguing the borough's draft "priority use" arrangement is not sustainable. Council told staff to allow reservation use through May/June and to return a revised agreement in June after planned community engagement.
Kitsy Chapelle, founder of the Learning Tree of Pennsylvania, told the Carlisle Borough Council she and neighborhood volunteers transformed a long‑vacant warehouse next to the community garden and want to use it as a community center, but said the borough's current proposal — a day‑by‑day “priority use” reservation — leaves the group unable to build stable programming. "That's not a reliable or sustainable agreement to have," Chapelle said.
Council members and staff said the borough did not intend to block the community but wants to complete community engagement led by the Antiracist Development Institute (ADI) before granting a long‑term lease. Borough staff described the priority‑use draft as a stopgap right‑of‑first‑refusal that would let the Learning Tree reserve dates and be contacted first if others request the warehouse; staff cautioned that an arrangement providing regular office presence would legally look like a lease and require additional review.
The learning tree has submitted a proposal, secured 501(c)(3) status and insurance, and offered programming in partnership with local organizations and Dickinson College. Chapelle and multiple residents told the council the group has cleaned the building, staged events including a holiday bazaar and mental‑health programming, and lined up partners and interns; they said uncertainty about use undermines fundraising and consistent services for children and seniors.
Mayor Schultz and councilors said they want the project to succeed and reiterated that ADI's role is to facilitate community engagement, not to supplant local organizations. Towanda Stalworth, ADI program manager, described ADI's role as facilitating design‑thinking and community engagement and said acknowledgement and local input are the first steps: "Acknowledgement just means that we acknowledge a thing," she said.
As an interim measure, staff said reservation forms remain available and that council will allow the Learning Tree to calendar dates in May and June while the borough refines the draft priority‑use agreement. Council asked the Learning Tree to return suggested edits to the draft and directed staff to place a revised agreement on the June agenda after planned ADI‑facilitated engagement. The borough also committed to hold a staff planning session on June 1 and a larger community session afterward to inform longer‑term decisions.
The council did not vote to lease the building during the meeting. The immediate outcome was a direction to allow short‑term calendaring and to continue the ADI‑facilitated community engagement that staff and council said will guide whether a lease or different arrangement is appropriate.
