SANATOGA PA – Further deterioration of a former gasoline station and convenience market at the northeast corner of Mervine and North Charlotte streets, which Lower Pottsgrove officials think of as the township’s western gateway, continues to frustrate the Board of Commissioners.
Vacant gas station property at 1258 N. Charlotte St.
It’s been 10 months since the board last decried the condition of the property at 1258 N. Charlotte St., Pottstown PA, where weed-studded piles of dirt and rocks sit in defiance of any attempt to get them removed. Most recently, board Vice President Bruce Foltz said earlier this month, a lighting pole had fallen there to create another “dangerous” hazard.
Foltz even turned a discussion about the corner into a show-and-tell, distributing photos among fellow board members to graphically make his point. “It’s ugly. It’s just ugly,” Commissioner James Phillips agreed.
The board has sent its codes enforcement officer, Keith Place, to inspect and warn about violations. It’s had Manager Rodney Hawthorne repeatedly call a real estate representative, whose broker has listed the property for sale, to request help and action. In fact, so far, the township seems to have done almost everything short of cleaning up the property itself or formally suing its owners for non-compliance.
Take a number on the latter, township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway advised commissioners during their March 18 meeting in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd.
Principals of the company that Montgomery County records indicate owns the property, the Pottstown Land Corp. of 641 E. Barnard St., West Chester PA, have filed for bankruptcy, Holloway said. Tax liens have been placed against the parcel, the county reports, and according to the solicitor the land also is the subject of legal action involving the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The best the township can hope for in the immediate future, Holloway concluded, is to notify other agencies – whose claims or complaints are likely to be given legal priority – of the board’s concerns and seek their assistance in solving them. As the discussion ended, that’s exactly what commissioners asked the solicitor to pursue.
The former Citgo Food Mart sits on a lot of 17,600 square feet and was built in 1958, county records show.
Related:
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ March 18 meeting):
- What A Difference Five Decades Can Make
- Notebook Worthy
- Township Hires Consultant To Find Interchange Business
- Zoning, Subdivision Laws On Township’s Agenda
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EPA’s fuel tank regulations killed this station, as well as many others when owners simply could not afford the upgrades to their underground tanks and went out of business.
One might explore if the tanks are empty or even leaking. Perhaps Redners might be approached to see if they might want to buy the station and convert it to a fuel station akin to Giants.
I agree it’s an eyesore, and should at least cleaned up and boarded up.