No students spoke last week at a State College Borough Planning Commission meeting about how the borough could reach a balance between the number of students and permanent residents living in State College.

Commission members and local property owners said they were concerned about the number of single-family homes that are being converted into rental units for students.

Nichol Barlett, vice president of the Organization for Town Independent Students and a commission member, did not attend the session because of a prior commitment. Barlett is running for a Democratic nomination to the State College Borough Council.

"If we let a neighborhood be dominated by one group it may not be attractive to another," Commission Chairman Peter Everett said.

The borough could balance student concerns with residents' priorities by controlling population density through zoning, inspecting rental units more often and offering incentives, such as lower interest rates, to entice families to move into the borough, Everett said.

Some families who want to live in State College are scared away by noisy students, said James Deeslie, co-president of the Highland Civic Association.

But Barlett disagreed during a phone interview after the meeting.

Borough council is considering an ordinance to limit the number of converted houses allowed per block, zoning officer Herman Slaybaugh said. However, a similar zoning measure in another county has been challenged as unconstitutional. Slaybaugh suggested the borough wait to see how the case turns out before considering the ordinance.

Richard Gesell, 894 Grace St., said limiting the number of converted houses allowed per block would make some properties harder to sell. He said he thought areas dominated by converted houses should not be zoned to reduce the number of conversions in those areas.

Areas rented out to students for a long time would not be desirable for families re-locating to the area, but could continue making money as rental units, Gesell said.