SANATOGA PA – After what it admits have been years of inaction on unsightly and deteriorating conditions at a former gasoline station on the northeast corner of Mervine and North Charlotte streets in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, the Board of Commissioners said Monday (May 3, 2010) it would explore seizing the property under Pennsylvania’s eminent domain laws.

Vacant gas station property at 1258 N. Charlotte St.

Commissioners directed township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway to analyze the benefits, risks, considerations and procedure in taking municipal ownership of the property at 1258 N. Charlotte St., Pottstown PA. Currently owned by the Pottstown Land Corp. of 641 E. Barnard St., West Chester PA, the appearance of and potential hazards at the site have been a concern of several current board members since last May, and for much longer by their predecessors.

Simply having Holloway investigate taking the property does not mean the board intends to do so, President Jonathan Spadt noted. “But there’s an argument to be made” for its seizure, he added, “and we should start looking into the possibility.” Board members agreed.

Eminent domain is an often controversial legal process under which a municipality can take private property and use it for a public purpose with compensation given to the owner. It has been part of Pennsylvania law for decades.

However, eminent domain has been scrutinized much more closely since 2005, when the U.S. Supreme Court determined the power could be used by governments as a tool for economic development. Its decision riled both the public and politicians nationwide; critics claimed the exercise of eminent domain is sometimes unjust and unwarranted.

Spadt acknowledged that a proposal to take the property was “a radical idea,” but said it represents the board’s frustration with an inability to force its owners or others to remove damaged light poles and other fixtures that imperil public safety, as well as piles of dirt and other fill that look unsightly.

“Ugly is one thing,” Commissioner James Phillips chimed in. “Hazards are another.”

The property’s owner lacks financial resources, the property itself is in conservatorship, and also is the subject of state Department of Environmental Protection citations issued in 2001 regarding suspected contaminants, Holloway told board members. Previous private attempts to buy the land were unsuccessful, he added, noting the parcel was still being marketed by a real estate firm.

The sale of a similar property on the northwest end of the Suburbia Shopping Center in North Coventry, owned by the same company and in much the same shape, is under negotiation, township Manager Rodney Hawthorne reported. If its sale goes through, however, proceeds likely would be divided primarily among creditors and the DEP, he said, leaving little money for Lower Pottsgrove to pursue in solving its complaints.

“I’ll bet you another board sitting where we are could be talking about this same issue in another five years,” Spadt said. “Nothing’s going to happen if we don’t take some sort of action.”

Holloway said he would start on the necessary research.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of May 3):

• Township Explores Seizing North Charlotte Property
• Grading Plan May Leave Gap In Sanatoga Land
• Higher Town Tax Collections Come At A Heavy Price

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