Zoning Board Denies Lighting Variance for Proposed Centre Hills Pickleball Courts

The State College Zoning Hearing Board this week unanimously denied Centre Hills Country Club's variance request to install 20-foot-tall light poles for planned pickleball and tennis courts, marking a win for neighboring residents who have raised concerns about the project.

Centre Hills did not demonstrate a hardship that would be created by complying with the borough's maximum permitted 15-foot height limit for outdoor luminaires, the board wrote in its decision denying the request on Tuesday. Further, the glare created by the proposed 20-foot standards on surrounding residences would be "detrimental to the public welfare," according to the decision.

"The unnecessary hardship, to the extent it exists, has been created by [Centre Hills]," the board wrote.

The country club has 30 days to appeal the decision to the Centre County Court of Common Pleas.

Centre Hills submitted in 2023 a land development plan for additions that will include a new pool, poolhouse, two pickleball courts and four tennis courts at the eastern end of its property . The 11-acre project area is around the Clark Nine course, which will remain, and is accessed via a private road from Scenery Drive.

Since the plan was submitted, residents of the Canterbury Crossing and, particularly, Nittany View Meadow neighborhoods that surround the eastern end of the club have voiced worries primarily about light and noise from the courts.

To allow for after-dark play, Centre Hills wants to install 20-foot luminaire poles, which are required by Illuminating Engineers Society standards for safe court illumination.

Borough zoning prohibits court lights from being illuminated between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. A project engineer told the State College Planning Commission in April that lights for the new courts would be on motion sensors during permitted hours, Toretti said, and would be illuminated at 25% until players enter the court, when they would automatically go to full brightness.

The courts would be located in close proximity to Nittany View Meadow homes, less than 200 feet from the closest residents. They would be surrounded by 10-foot black vinyl coated fences, wind screens and a landscape buffer.

Neighboring residents said that would not be enough to mitigate the nuisance, especially from pickleball play. They are concerned about constant noise from pickleball strikes — an increasingly prevalent complaint in communities nationwide — and lighting that would extend play into the nighttime hours would only exacerbate the issue, some said.

“Right now it is virtually silent there,” said Keith Bocchicchio, president of the Nittany View Meadow condominium owners association. “We don’t even hear a golfer say ‘fore.’ It’s a huge change to the area and a huge impact on the residential communities surrounding this project.”

He added that he believed the country club could put the courts in a different location where they would not have a direct impact on the neighboring community.

For some residents, extended noise isn't the only concern. Scenery Court resident Simba Zaffino said that her second-floor bedroom and workspace look out directly over the project area.

“First and foremost, I’m really concerned about the light projecting into the back of my townhouse, since I am the closest to the courts and the building site,” Zaffino said.

Another Scenery Court resident, Murry Nelson, said the glow from the lights would be "very annoying," and increasing the height of the poles "seems specious" when the harm to people who live nearby outweighs that of those who could simply play pickleball or tennis at another time.

The zoning hearing board seemed to agree.

To be granted a variance, a property owner must demonstrate that unique physical conditions create an unnecessary hardship and that the proposed variance does not harm the public interest, according to the zoning board's decision.

Centre Hills did not provide sufficient evidence of a hardship, and the unique conditions cited are related to manmade improvements, not the physical condition of the land itself, the board wrote.

Club members only being able to play during daylight hours also does not create an economic hardship, and the courts could still be constructed and used without 20-foot luminaires, according to the decision.

"The reasons for granting the variance cited by the applicant are not substantial, serious and compelling," the board wrote.

A final land development plan for the overall project is still under review by the borough planning office. While the country club property is located in the borough, it is surrounded by College Township, where elements of the plan related to access drive improvements also are under review.

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