Population and development growth in the State College Borough will pale in comparison with the rest of Centre County over the next three decades.

Bob Crum of the Centre Region planning agency (CRPA) presented a 30-year growth forecast to State College Borough Council at last night's work session.

Growth predictions in terms of residential, office and commercial space were high for the county as a whole, but were minimal in the borough.

This is because only 44 acres of vacant, developable land remain in the borough, Crum said.

Student population is only expected to increase by 1 percent in 30 years, Crum said. Therefore, student housing is not expected to increase greatly in comparison with other growth in the area.

Both student and non-student residential growth, however small it may be, is expected to extend into the surrounding townships.

The borough is expected to see the most growth in lots for single family houses, apartment complexes and commercial property over the next 10 to 20 years.

It was the prediction of retail and commercial growth in the borough that worried Crum and most council members, particularly Jean McManis.

Construction of about 190,000 square feet of additional retail outlets, similar to Target and Wal-Mart on North Atherton Street, is expected to take place in the next 30 years. To put this in perspective, the Wal-Mart building is roughly 140,000 square feet, Crum said.

McManis and others expressed concern that new retail space may surpass the demand by residents, considering the abundance of storefronts already vacant within the borough. She cited the large strip mall on South Atherton Street where Ames department store has left, and much of the space remains without lease contracts.

"They are dinosaurs. They are blights on our land and our economy," McManis said, referring to large retail outlets that go unused.

"It's a New Jersey phenomenon or a paving over of our land, and I think it's a scary thing," she added.

The growth forecast was compiled to give utility companies an idea of what they will have to do to accommodate new buildings and a larger population in the long-term future of Centre County.