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After three hours of testimony, the city's Zoning Hearing Board voted 3-2 Thursday to approve a special exception for a new reserve training center on the Penn Street armory property.

The lengthy hearing sets the stage for City Council action on the project's land development plan, which likely will revive the arguments pro and con raised at the zoning hearing.

The plan, as submitted, places a new military training center on mostly open land east of the current armory and would do away with old Quonset huts near Grove Street, while retaining - but not necessarily using - the existing armory which dates from the mid-1920s.

The project is being coordinated by the commonwealth's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and is projected to cost about $20 million - most of it provided by the federal government.

The board heard from more than a dozen witnesses, including two state representatives and three City Council members.

State Rep. Gather Everett, R-Muncy, suggested the city site did not meet zoning criteria and the U.S. Army made a mistake when it ruled the new facility had to be built within the city limits.

The 84th District representative endorsed an alternate site in the Turkey Run area of Muncy Township owned and previously offered at $60,000 an acre by Blaise Alexander, Dan Klingerman and Mike Mussina.

State Rep. Rick Mirabito, D-city, favored keeping the project where it is and suggested spending $60,000 an acre was not practical use of taxpayer money when the 15-acre city site is already owned by the National Guard.

According to Everett, Mayor Gabriel J. Campana is among those who have endorsed the Muncy Township site, but the mayor later told the hearing board he only wrote the letter to support the Muncy site as an alternative, should the city site be ruled out.

Campana said keeping the new facility in the city would bring economic development, "enhance security in the city," add jobs and generate about $22,000 in city permit fees.

Councilman N. Clifford Smith echoed Campana's position and injected political overtones into the hearing by handing out copies of a letter written by Councilman Patrick Marty on a council letterhead that also contains all council members' names.

The letter was sent to U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, Oct. 5 and said Councilwoman Gerry Fausnaught had suggested she might be willing to ask her Pennsylvania counterparts "to look into a poorly conceived federal legal opinion."

Marty, a former Army officer, later addressed the hearing board and said he would have a private conversation with Smith about the intent of his letter.

He said he was approached by residents concerned about the project and only wants a plan that is "good ... for the Army and ... the community." He also suggested the state's renderings of the proposed training center just west of Grove Street need to be revised to provide a "true sense of (its) scale" to the surrounding residential structures.

The board had to base its opinions solely on whether the project meets the zoning laws of the city, which David Hines, city zoning officer, said it does.

Zoning board members were split, however.

Chairman Mary Lou Baldys voted last and cast the deciding "yes" vote.

The other "yes" votes were cast by Linda Crockett and Judy Sarrett. Disagreeing were Tom Shivetts and Mary Zeitler, both of who voted against the special exception when it was denied last April by a 2-2 tie vote, only to be remanded back for a new hearing by county court.

Thursday's action now sets the stage for a deciding vote by council following a review of the land development plan by the city's planning commission.

The county planning commission has already issued its review of the plan, which Hines suggested is positive.

In addition to Marty, Councilman Jonathan Williamson registered reservations about the project's compatibility with the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

Public testimony included Sheridan Street resident Florence English, who said the proposed training facility will be more pleasant than the World War II-era huts being used now.

Logue Avenue resident Rebecca Renner, however, described the planned structure and the new 300-space parking area as "like a Wal-Mart."

Others testifying included Col. Wilber Wolf, who will likely command the facility. He said the city site "can do anything we need."

He described the footprint as adequate and suggested it and the other proposed locations, including Turkey Run, all have some limitations.