State College Borough Council narrowly passed amendments last night to zoning ordinances that discourage the addition of a café on West College Avenue.

Brad Karch purchased Fisher Auto Parts, 616 W. College Ave., with plans of putting in a coffee shop.

"If the ordinance changes this way, I would be more inclined to just put in apartments," Karch said.

The amendments included requiring more parking and green space when buildings are used for new purposes.

The zoning changes passed 4-3, with James Meyer, Richard McCarl and Jean McManis voting in opposition. The changes will affect the Urban Village district in State College.

"The original concept of the Urban Village is to have small businesses in a neighborhood setting," Mayor Bill Welch said.

The Urban Village is a small parcel of land from Atherton Street to South Buckhout Street, between Calder Way and western parts of campus.

One purpose of the ordinances is intended to reduce high-density residential areas and promote single-family dwellings, Manis said.

The Urban Village was designed to incorporate businesses in a neighborhood setting, but it sacrifices commercial development for better residential zoning, she added.

"It just reinforces problems for someone doing something the Urban Village was intended to support," McManis said.

The amendments not only discourage commercial growth, they also affect the value of businesses already in the Urban Village, local property owner Pat Vernon said.

"Each time the ordinances change, the value of land in the area decreases," Vernon said. "It's a continuous down-zone that I object to, and so do other owners."

The largest point of conflict among council members and property owners was an amendment to require parking in some areas where it cannot be provided.

"This is definitely a more onerous parking requirement," borough zoning officer Herman Slaybaugh said.

Many buildings do not meet current parking requirements of the borough according to their size, but must be added to the property if building use is changed, Slaybaugh said.

The zoning will also require buildings to have a required setback from streets and parking areas, as well as providing green space between structures.

These changes are hindrances to commercial developers, McManis said.

Although problematic for some, the ordinances are designed to stop the Urban Village from eliminating the little parking and green space it has left, Slaybaugh said.

"It's to prevent creating businesses or high-density residential without providing the green space or spots for car needed on the lot," he said.