State College Planning Commission members and Allen Street businesses that supported closing the 100 block of the street to cars will not get their wish in 2010.
In a 4-2 vote at last Monday night's meeting, the State College Borough Council decided not to put a pedestrian mall on the commission's 2010 work plan, effectively halting discussion.
The commission had shown interest in a plan that would prohibit cars on the 100 block of South Allen Street.
In his vote to squelch the idea, Council President Ron Filippelli said that a no-car zone could cause downtown partiers to linger.
"It could be a dangerous place at night," he said.
Filippelli and council member Silvi Lawrence both said they have seen the idea of closing parts of Allen Street float around State College for many years.
Lawrence thinks there's probably a good reason it's never been implemented since she first heard about it in 1978, though she didn't specify what the reason is.
But council member Don Hahn, one of the two dissenting votes, said he saw no reason to stop the planning commission from discussing the issues it wants to discuss.
He thinks the pedestrian mall could increase foot traffic and bring non-students downtown during the summer.
Council also moved forward with plans to name a public area after Martin Luther King, Jr. All council members said they supported naming "something" in the borough after King.
Member Peter Morris proposed renaming Orchard Park, but other members were uncomfortable specifying a location without public support. Filippelli said he would rather rename something near Penn State and the downtown area.
Council decided to form a committee to gather public opinion and to specify a single public work to be renamed.
