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Harborcreek supervisors approve final plan for Penn State CMC building at Knowledge Park
Summary
The Harborcreek Board of Supervisors approved the final land development plan for Penn State Behrend’s CMC building at Knowledge Park, reducing the building footprint to 27,641 sq ft and preserving shared parking and wooded buffers while several permits and an engineer review remain outstanding.
Harborcreek Township supervisors on March 18 approved the final land development plan for a Penn State Behrend tenant building at Knowledge Park, moving the project from a 40,000-square-foot preliminary footprint to a 27,641-square-foot final plan.
The board heard a presentation from township staff and project representatives, including Chuck Peters of Altair and Jenna Drusicc of Weber Murphy Fox. The final plan adds six loading spaces at the rear, a perimeter traffic lane intended to serve multiple tenants and an equipment yard on the west side of the building; the project will share an existing parking area adjacent to the site. Township staff said the lot contains wooded areas and some wetlands and that landscaping and stormwater plans changed only modestly from the preliminary submission.
"The preliminary plan showed it at 40,000 square feet and the new final site plan is at 27,641 square feet," Professor Tom said while describing Knowledge Park’s growth and Penn State’s partnership with Harborcreek.
Township staff told the board that the planning commission recommended approval contingent on the township engineer’s final review letter. The board was awaiting several outstanding items before construction permits can be issued, including the township engineer’s final review, ENS approval, PDS permits and a sewer availability letter; the project’s engineer was identified in the record as Adam Honey of Laird Associates but was not present at the meeting.
A supervisor moved to approve the final land development plan per the planning commission recommendation; the motion was seconded and approved with no opposition recorded in the transcript.
The board’s vote follows presenters’ assurances that the site will preserve a natural buffer around mechanical equipment and that parking corrections requested during preliminary review were addressed. Township staff and Penn State representatives emphasized Knowledge Park’s local economic role: Professor Tom said the park houses 22 companies and employs roughly 400 people daily.
Next steps cited by staff were receipt of the township engineer’s final review and the outstanding regulatory permits; no construction timeline was provided during the meeting.
