Although Circleville Farm was sold in November, land development could still take up to a year to begin.

John Melham, president of Melham Associates, consultants employed by Lezzer/Haubert Partnership, which bought the land in November, said his firm is proceeding with the rezoning of the land into a residential development.

Melham said the rezoning process should take a couple of months, but that is a general timeline, and it could be done earlier or later than expected.

"Lezzer/Haubert, assuming a successful rezoning request, would like to start development as soon as possible," he said.

However, Melham said, that may not be until next year, as planning and designing the land will still need to take place.

Dan Sieminski, Penn State assistant vice president for finance and business, said the rezoning of the land into category R-1, which allows for residential development, is required before Lezzer/Haubert's purchase can be completed.

Sieminski said he expects Lezzer/Haubert will proceed with the terms of the sale despite the pending lawsuit filed against the university by Banyan Homes Inc. "We have an agreement of sale in place," he said.

Banyan Attorney Mike Finio said there is also a maximum one-year timeline for the lawsuit, but because there is no legal hold on Lezzer/Haubert's development plans, the lawsuit will not affect its progress. "It will take a long time to resolve this; it's not going to happen anytime soon," he said. "It will take months, maybe a year."

Banyan sued the university after it sold Circleville Farm to Lezzer/Haubert for $2.9 million at November's Penn State Board of Trustees meeting, despite Banyan's higher bid for the land.

Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said price was not the only factor in the sale, and Lezzer/Haubert had the best overall offer.

Currently, Finio said Banyan is waiting for a judge to schedule a hearing to settle preliminary objections filed by Penn State Attorney Jim Horne.

Horne said he filed the objections because the lawsuit had no legal course of action. The lawsuit stated that the university breached a contract with Banyan and failed to follow the state's procurement act, which requires the acceptance of all bids for a project.

Horne said the university never had a contract with Banyan and is exempt from the act because it is a state-related institution.

Finio said Banyan disagrees with the objections and is waiting for a judge to settle the dispute. Once the hearing is scheduled, Finio and Horne will file legal briefs. The hearing will take place, and then the judge will decide on the objections, he said. "If the judge decides the objections are valid, we'll have to deal with them," he said.

If the judge disagrees with the objections, they will be thrown out, and the lawsuit can continue, Finio said.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the university believes the lawsuit is without merit.