POTTSTOWN PA – A teetering gas station light post at North Charlotte and Mervine streets that Lower Pottsgrove officials have long feared could fall and injure a passer-by has been designated a dangerous hazard by township Zoning and Codes Enforcement Officer Keith Place, and he has ordered that it be immediately fixed or removed.
Declared a hazard.
Attorneys representing owners of the property where the pole is located, however, have told Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway that their clients cannot afford to do the work, and that the township will have to do it and bill them for it. When Lower Pottsgrove would be paid, Holloway acknowledged Thursday (May 20, 2010) is “anybody’s guess.”
Place’s declaration is the latest event in a years-long saga of appearance and safety problems involving 1258 N. Charlotte St., Pottstown PA. A closed former convenience store and gas station there occupies the northeast corner of Charlotte and Mervine, in front of Redner’s Warehouse Market and the North End Shopping Center.
A pole that supported a light over the pumps toppled east at a more than 45-degree angle, and could easily come crashing down, the Board of Commissioners has worried. Commissioners knew weeks ago that, to get any action on the problem, Place would need to proclaim the pole was an imminent hazard. He made the conclusion last week, after another inspection, and notified the West Chester PA-based owners by letter.
The company, Pottstown Land Corp., has a 30-day period in which it can appeal Place’s notice. Its attorneys told Holloway they would let the period expire without reply. After that, Manager Rodney Hawthorne said, a township work crew or contractor will be assigned to take the pole down.
The same property was the subject of a suggestion May 3 (2010) by commissioners’ President Jonathan Spadt that the township consider sizing it under eminent domain laws.
Related:
- Township Declares Fallen Light Pole A Hazard
- Charlotte Street Lot Condition Frustrates Board
- Corner Attracts Commissioners’ Attention
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of May 20):
- Township Declares Fallen Light Pole A Hazard
- Call Goes Out For Ringing Rocks Construction Bids
- Lower Pottsgrove’s Reviled System Generates Reverent Talk
- In Lower Pottsgrove, Legal Paperwork Out The Gazoo
- Cracks, Crumbles Mean Trouble In Township
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Guess it’s not an iminent hazard requiring “immediate attention”. HAve the Police tape the area off as a Hazardous area in the interim.
Are those fuel tanks empty? Are they leaking into the ground contaminating the soil? Is this a DEP issue?
Cannot the township act more expeditiously. This hazard is in vicinity of the Middle School, Elemetary School and High School as well as adjacent to a food market. Lot’s of foot traffic.
Looks to me like a 5 min. job. Just lay it on the ground.