Plans for the revitalization of the Urban Village are back in the works after meeting resistance from residents last month.

A better understanding of exactly what changes will be made to the West College-area neighborhood has yet to be determined, although results are expected in the near future, State College Borough Planning Director Carl Hess said.

"We should have a sense of what improvements will be made sometime in the next six weeks, as the consultants come back with a preliminary analysis," he said.

The current revitalization plan includes the addition of green space as a focal point for the community while conserving the historic downtown atmosphere and State College charm. Pedestrian-friendly lighting and traffic circles at busy intersections have also been proposed, he said.

The traffic circles would follow a design that would eliminate the turning lanes, which now serve to direct traffic at the intersection of College Avenue and Atherton Street. The circles are needed because of the dangerous areas where College Avenue becomes a one-way street and where College Avenue turns right, merging into Atherton Street, Hess said.

"The plan so far is to preserve buildings along West College Avenue," Hess said. "Also, older housing stock would be developed into newer housing stock marketed to students."

A third and final public input meeting is expected to be held sometime early February, and the Urban Village Steering Committee is scheduled to meet Jan. 26 to discuss further revitalization of the area.

At last month's public input meeting, students, landlords and area residents gathered to voice concerns about the plan. Keith Weaver of EDSA Inc. proposed a split of the area into two zones: student rentals and owner-occupied housing.

Plans are to push the development of owner-occupied housing south of College Avenue while student housing would move toward West Campus. The idea that College Avenue would serve as a dividing line between students and residents concerned many of the meeting's attendees. Numerous people expressed anger toward the clear-cut division of neighborhoods and the removal of rental properties from certain areas of Urban Village.

Currently, student renters comprise about 95 percent of Urban Village Hess said.