CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — An affordable senior housing complex planned for Centre County is taking another step forward after the Patton Township Board of Supervisors approved a change that would increase occupancy.

“The property is currently zoned R-2, which is our low density residential and they want to rezone it to R-3, which would be our medium density residential,” Township Manager Amy Farkus said.

The 2.5 acres of land at 160 W. Clearview Avenue are in the process of changing. Farkus said the process began when HFL Corporation submitted a request earlier this year to consider rezoning the land for a 31-unit attainable housing community for people 55 years and older.

“One of the things that we’ve struggled with, I think everyone in the Centre Region not just Patton Township, is having attainable housing,” Farkus said. “That’s a goal that we all have. Patton Township’s motto is a place for all and I think it’s very important for us and to our elected officials to make sure we’re making space for everyone so that they can have a place here.”

After discussions throughout the summer, the Patton Township Planning Commission recommended the rezoning. At their Sept. 27 meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to move the project forward but it hasn’t come without criticism from residents.

“We’ve heard from a lot of residents through this process,” Farkus said. “Concerns about traffic and stormwater and the character of the neighborhood. Those are all very valid concerns and I think something we may try to address through some long-range planning.”

Farkus said the project will now go to the Centre Region Planning Commission for review before the supervisors can take a final action vote early next year.

“We’d like to sit down and engage the residents in that area to talk about how they see their neighborhood changing and how they see what’s going to happen in the future,” Farkus said. “We certainly have commercial around that area so we want to be sensitive to what we might be putting in there and how it would impact the single family homes that are still left out there.”