Two Penn State professors and a housing research specialist asked the State College Borough Council Friday to support a local demonstration project that would help handle storm water issues.
The project would extend curbs out into the street and fill the extensions with plants and sediments designed to absorb water and pollutants. The initial location of the project has yet to be determined, and, if successful, it would be installed in more locations around State College.
Stuart Echols, assistant professor in the department of landscape architecture, said at the council meeting Friday that the project was based off an award-winning system developed in Portland.
"This not only solves the problems of storm water," Echols said. "It also contributes to the beautification of our community."
The curb extensions, Echols said, would absorb small rainstorms and serve as a "first-flush filtering system," removing many pollutants from the water before it entered the sewer system.
Echols said communities in Portland have enjoyed the project so much that they have taken over maintenance of the extensions.
"They keep sending their crews out there to do something, and it's already been done," he said. "Now, that may not be the case 10 years from now, but at least for now the community has embraced this very well."
Council member Tom Daubert expressed his reservations about the project, questioning how the extensions would affect things such as on-street parking and garbage collection.
"The people won't stand for these being on every street," he said. "It's great, I like the idea, but we have to think of these things."
Alex Duran, land use and development specialist for Pennsylvania Housing Research Center, said the group is planning to look into how Portland handled those issues.
Eliza Pennypacker, professor in the department of landscape architecture, said the group had applied for a grant that would cover the full cost of the demonstration project, which they will receive a response on by Dec. 1.
The group has yet to determine several specifics of the project, including which neighborhood the demonstration would occur in. Also still to be determined are the exact dimensions of the extensions.
Echols said the way the extensions cut down space on the road had the additional benefit of acting as a "traffic-calming device."
Council member Don Hahn said the ultimate cost of the project and the recommendation of the borough staff are two factors he would consider when deciding whether or not to support the project, adding that he was "intrigued" by the potential demonstration.
