The front end of a bulldozer faces a growing mound of dirt in the 3000 block of East High Street, near the Turkey Hill store in Sanatoga. The store's gas pumps can be seen in the background at right.
SANATOGA PA – A wide mound of dirt, just west of the Turkey Hill Minit Market on the north side of East High Street at Rupert Road, is as much as 20 feet high and growing in some places. That concerns nearby property owners, who argue the site looks ugly, worry its contents may contaminate local wells, and think Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township hasn’t exercised enough control over dumping there.
As recently as yesterday (Monday, Nov. 23, 2009), trucks and other equipment were still spreading piles onto the lot being marketed for sale by an area real estate firm.
The property is owned by Charles Tornetta of Tornetta Realty Corp.
The township Board of Commissioners has directed staff members to explore the complaints of Rupert Road residents Frank and Tom Wojton. “I want to know where that soil comes from, and what’s in there,” Frank Wojton told commissioners Thursday (Nov. 19, 2009) during their meeting in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.
Charles Tornetta, of Tornetta Realty Corp. in Norristown PA, owns the 13.9-acre parcel where the fill and grading operation began this March (2009), according to township Manager Rodney Hawthorne. Lower Pottsgrove gave its permission, in the form of a grading permit, for the fill’s placement there last December (2008).
A map of the area contained in Lower Pottsgrove's 2007 Sanatoga Gateway Study, showing the proposed shopping center use in purple.
The property, some of which is below the level of East High Street, has been discussed for several years as a proposed future site of a shopping center complex and hotel. A shopping center use is reflected in the township’s preliminary Sanatoga Gateway Study, prepared in 2007. The fill likely will be used to raise the property to street level for development, commissioners’ President Bruce Foltz speculated.
There’s no guarantee of that, however, township Assistant Manager Alyson Elliott reported. She said permit paperwork indicates the fill is being stockpiled “for future use,” but does not specify the site as its final destination. The permit also does not limit “how high or wide” fill can be placed, Foltz said, acknowledging the pile is “almost as high as Turkey Hill” in some spots.
Chad Camburn, representing township engineers Bursich Associates, told commissioners the soil was tested last week for contaminants. It initially seemed clean, he said, adding that a final report on the results was expected this week. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a permit for dumping mixed loads of dirt and silt, Camburn noted.
“It looked like sludge to me,” Tom Wojton replied. “I’m concerned about my drinking water. If the DEP’s involved, that’s not candy in there. What assurance do we have that it’s safe?”
“Just because the DEP has issued a permit doesn’t mean the fill is contaminated,” commissioners’ Vice President Jonathan Spadt cautioned. “We’ll find out what’s in there.”
The property is marked with a sign announcing its availability for purchase. Nothing has been built on the site, and no development plans have been officially introduced. Elliott said, however, that the township Planning Commission could see a proposal within months to create a catch basin on the land to control storm water run-off.
The site once contained a small woodland. Its trees were clear-cut and the timber removed in Fall 2008, leaving behind stumps up to three feet tall. Residents in the area complained then about visual blight.
Related:
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Nov. 19 meeting):
- Putting The Pizza Place On Hold
- No Change Expected In Township 2010 Tax Rate
- Lower Pottsgrove Introduces Budget Tonight
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Wow! People really have very little going on in their lives. This is progress. You want to talk about blight, I would look at the tire place across the street.
This site and it’s growing pile is unsightly. Having stopped by daily and walked the site I can tell you it’s a mixed bag of soil, concrete, rerods, general soils, silts, etc.
This mound will leach into the ground water anything that it might contain and all wells downhill from it will eventually contain whatever is in it.
Once again we get the shortend of the stick. Our lax township officers have fouled up by not restricting the mound in height and content. Like I said in another posting Limerick get’s a COSTCO and tax revenues, we get a pile of xxxt and ugliness.
Let’s do something and stop this defacing of our streets….