The planning commission unanimously approved plans for the proposed Dickinson School of Law building yesterday and sent them to the borough staff for approval.

Penn State proposes to construct a $60 million building that will house the Dickinson School of Law at University Park on Bigler Road, north of Park Avenue.

A presentation was made to the planning commission by Peter Joyce, associate of Gannett Fleming and Bruce Quigley, principal of OPA Architecture. Both are working on the new project and showed pictures of the new building as well as floor plans to the commission.

Some changes were made to the building's design after criticism from the borough's design review board.

The footprint was reduced by 40 feet to protect the adjacent flower gardens, and the overall square footage was also reduced slightly from the original plan of 122,000 square feet. Now, the building, which will displace Lot 83, is expected to be about 114,567 square feet.

Planning chairman Ron Madrid said the building will have a faculty and staff occupancy of 600. The new building will also have more green space than the previous building in Carlisle did.

The building will house an auditorium, a courtroom, a café overlooking an arboretum, a library and outside terraces used for large gatherings.

The flower gardens located next to the building site will be preserved and will not be moved following the construction.

The new building will have 350 parking spaces, for staff and student use, as well as some parking for buildings across Park Avenue, Joyce said.

A shuttle service will be provided for transportation between the building and the Carlisle campus. However, there will be no additional bus stops added to the blue or white loop bus routes to accommodate students at the new building, Planning Director Carl Hess said. A sidewalk will be constructed along the north side of Park Avenue to accommodate pedestrian traffic to and from the building.

The building will be 70 feet high at its highest point, a height that is comparable to the business building across the street, Dave Zehngut, university architect, said.

Planning member Elizabeth Toepfer asked Joyce and Quigley to consider the impacts of traffic and lighting on the neighborhoods near the construction and any impact they might have on the community.