4 people applied for vacant seat on State College Borough Council. Hear from the candidates

Four candidates who applied for the vacant seat on the State College Borough Council gave presentations to the board as part of the application process on Monday evening.

A seat on the council became vacant when Divine Lipscomb submitted his resignation last month, as he and his family are moving from the area. Last week, the council members shared a list of questions they and some borough residents had, and shared it with the candidates. They weren’t required to answer or reference any of the questions, but it gave them an idea of what the community is interested in hearing their stances on.

The candidates — John Hayes, Nathan Romig, Tony Sapia and Tyler Thompson — spoke on issues including housing, the zoning rewrite process and transportation. The meeting was recorded and the presentations are available on CNET.

Hayes, a borough resident of 15 years, in his application said he’s seen many changes in State College, like a housing boom and an “eerie depopulation” when the Penn State students weren’t in town during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of his main reasons for applying for the seat is related to his interest in urban planning and the borough’s zoning rewrite process.

“As our community continues to evolve, it is crucial that we view development with a holistic and forward-thinking approach that meets the needs of both long-term residents and transient students who come to Happy Valley during a formative period of their lives. I am passionate about ensuring that we grow in ways that are sustainable and equitable, while meeting the needs of all residents,” he wrote.

During his presentation Monday, he told the council he was generally supportive of the high-rises built downtown over the last decade because they added to the housing that’s in short supply. But “misaligned incentives” led to unintended consequences, like more than a Walmart Supercenter’s worth of vacant commercial space downtown, Hayes said.

“This is why I support efforts for a comprehensive rewrite of our zoning in the borough. Such an update is long overdue as continuing to patch a zoning code introduced during the Eisenhower Administration will not and cannot meet our long-term needs for the future,” he said.

Hayes currently serves on the borough’s transportation commission.

Sapia is a small business owner and also owns commercial property for retail and student housing. He serves on the borough’s planning commission and previously ran for council but lost in the May 2023 primary election; that experience allowed him to listen to residents’ concerns, he said in his application.

The borough government and community is facing the challenge of maintaining quality services while balancing fiscal responsibility, Sapia said. Some of the concerns he’s heard from residents include the high-rises and building density downtown. The quantity isn’t as concerning to him as the quality of the buildings, he said.

“It’s not the quantity attributing to our urban landscape. It’s really the quality of development that will lead to improved value in our downtown,” Sapia said. “I’d like to see more setbacks, more sidewalks, loading zones for deliveries, areas for pickup and drop offs, move in/move out areas for students during their annual pilgrimage and departure of our community. Better naturescapes with benches to repose upon. Better plantings.”

He also spoke in favor of bike and pedestrian safety. He suggested that removing the bike lanes from College Avenue and adding them into Calder Way’s redesign would be a benefit to the community. To increase pedestrian safety, he said something needs to be done with the pedestrian crossway between High Street and East College Avenue, between the Meridian and Rise buildings.

“Some safety measure has to be implemented. Folks fear for their lives and it’s impressive and a surprise no one has had a fatality there. I don’t want anybody hurt,” he said. “I’m interested in learning more to improve State College’s bike and pedestrian safety.”

Romig is a self-employed general contractor, according to his application, and is president of the Alternative Housing Coalition. He said he could bring a “massive base of expertise” when it comes to dealing with the affordable housing crisis.

On Monday, he said the housing issue is important to him because after his parents divorced, he and his mom moved into a trailer park.

“It wasn’t an expensive fancy home but it was our home. And it was a place that my mother worked very hard to make a place that was comfortable. It was something that she could afford at the time. And it was a place that we were proud that that was our home,” Romig said. “She worked hard to then raise some additional money so that before I started attending high school, she was able to sell the mobile home, the single-wide trailer and purchase a small home in downtown Carlisle. Carlisle is a town not too dissimilar from State College.”

The house she purchased was 1,100 square feet and was built prior to zoning regulations. The house gave him and his mom opportunities that they would have never had otherwise, he said. That home couldn’t be built today, he said. Like Carlisle, Romig said State College has zoning rules that prevent small, affordable homes to be built.

Addressing housing will also help address other concerns, like transportation, parking and emissions.

“I’m ready to come to the table with ideas. Not just the same old but I think we really need to start dreaming because we can make State College a lot better and it starts with our ideas. It starts with what we can dream up,” Romig said.

In Thompson’s letter of interest, he said his primary goal as a council member would be to advocate for policies that support and grow small businesses. As a small business owner himself and someone who works closely with other businesses, he said he has an understanding of the issues facing the local economy.

During his presentation, he ran through several of the questions asked by the council and community, highlighting his past service and dedication to the community.

“My desire to be appointed to council is perpetuation of my service to this country. As a veteran, selfless service is ingrained into who I am as a person. So it’s my duty to my community to advocate for policies that benefit everyone. That’s just a continuation of selfless service,” Thompson said.

Other than helping small businesses, he said parking is another top issue in the borough, as well as empty retail space in downtown high-rises, of which he said he isn’t a fan.

“There is a housing crisis and the issue is that the increases of the rent are outpacing cost of living. And the relationship that we have between Penn State is one that relates to housing. … Over 90% of students leave housing there and come and take up private housing, they’re jumping ship because they don’t want to live there. So we need to figure out why. And that would free up a lot of space around here,” Thompson said.

To reduce emissions, he said the borough should look at the buildings and have Energy Star assess the older buildings. Resources, finances and public awareness are big parts of that, he said.

What’s next?

On May 20, the council will review and discuss the candidates, and will vote to appoint a person to the vacant seat through Dec. 31, 2025.

The process the council will use to fill the vacancy is the same process they’ve used for the three previous vacancies, Council President Evan Myers previously said.

The voting process will look a bit different compared to its normal voting process, where any council member can make a motion or a second. For this process, each council member’s name will be put in a cup and a random drawing will indicate who will first nominate the candidate they want on the council. The council will then vote in that order.