HOLLIDAYSBURG — Hollidaysburg Borough Council approved the rezoning of two tax parcels, commonly referred to as the Stowell Farm in Hollidaysburg’s Gaysport neighborhood, from Traditional Neighborhood Development to Conservation Recreation during the council’s Thursday meeting.

Great Commission Schools, which owns the 60.47 acres of the property, submitted the petition in hopes of constructing a new facility. On Sept. 30, the Blair County Planning Commission found the petition to be consistent with countywide planning efforts, while on Oct. 1, the Hollidaysburg Planning Commission recommended council approve the petition.

During the petition’s public hearing, Laura Wray, vice president of Great Commission Schools’ board, provided more details about the proposed project and addressed concerns residents have expressed in the past regarding construction on the piece of land. She said the board selected Stowell Farm because at their current location, students are very confined and have to travel for all sports games.

“We have a small strip of playground space for rec space and a black top space that’s enclosed with a chain length fence that our kids lovingly call ‘the cage,'” Wray said.

Zoning for conservation recreation would help preserve the “big, beautiful green space,” she said.

In addition, Wray explained that water runoff would be mitigated by adding impervious surfaces, whether by creating retention ponds or using other methods.

“To address the sewer water issue … if we think about how our school would operate, our sewer usage would primarily be during school hours when a lot of residents would be at work and so there would be a staggered usage,” Wray said.

Students would be at school five days a week for 180 days a year, she said.

When it comes to increased traffic, Wray said a school’s traffic patterns are predictable and Great Commission only has “three buses, four vans and about 60 cars.”

Wray also addressed tax implications, saying the school would be saving the borough money by maintaining their own facility and property.

“We would not be putting that burden on you,” Wray said.

Also during the meeting, representatives and supporters of Explore Altoona spoke about the agency and the Blair County commissioners efforts to decertify Explore Altoona as the county’s designated tourism and promotion agency.

Mark Ickes, executive director of Explore Altoona, spoke about the 37% increase in travel spending seen over the past 10 years and the $371 million annual impact tourism brought to the county’s economy.

Ickes has been attending area meetings to drum up support for Explore Altoona, and at Hollidaysburg, told council members that the promotion agency has been “extremely collaborative” with the borough, providing a letter of endorsement for the pedestrian bridge project that would connect Canal Basin Park and downtown Hollidaysburg.

Dustin Delozier, a small business owner involved with the US Hotel Tavern and Boro Coffee Co., also spoke in favor of Explore Altoona’s efforts to promote Blair County.

“The 2,761 jobs in the tourism and hospitality space resulted in $93 million in labor income paid to those employees and

$19 million in state and local taxes,” he said.

Patrick Shore, director of partnership development at Explore Altoona, said that “one perception … that Explore Altoona is standing in the way of trail development” wasn’t true.

“Explore Altoona — we do marketing,” Shore said. “There are other entities in Blair County that do asset and economic development. So, you don’t have to have one or the other.”

Ickes spoke on behalf of Explore Altoona at the Tyrone Borough Council meeting Monday evening. See story above.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.