Townhomes along Allison Drive in Sanatoga
SANATOGA PA – A group of neighbors and property owners in the 2600 block of Allison Drive, just west of Sanatoga Road and Cutillo’s Restaurant in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, are receiving preliminary help authorized by the Board of Commissioners to determine the extent of damage to a retaining wall behind their homes, and how it might be repaired.
The board did not promise to have the wall fixed, and did not acknowledge it was a township problem. “But because we want to be fair to everybody,” commission President Jonathan Spadt said, he and his colleagues agreed to have a representative of the Bursich Associates engineering firm assess the wall’s issues and offer some guidance in addressing them.
The group was represented during the board’s meeting earlier this month (Feb. 6, 2012) by King of Prussia attorney Ellis Saul, who said the wall – which supports an earthen embankment between properties on Allison Drive and those higher up on adjacent Terraced Hill Court – has deteriorated over several years due to poor drainage. Its ownership is under question, because no homeowners association exists for the community built there, Saul said.
“Its current appearance raises questions regarding its structural integrity, and poses a potential danger,” the attorney added.
The wall was built sometime during the early 1990s. Homeowners who hired Saul purchased properties on Allison Drive between 1999 and 2011. They’ve researched possible repairs, “but I don’t know where they would start or stop,” one home owner, a man, told commissioners. “We could plow $50,000 into fixing that thing and still not have it solved,” he said.
Spadt said he understood residents’ concerns, but added: “We just can’t go around solving everyone’s problems.”
Commissioners nonetheless asked Bursich to be involved, along with other township officials as appropriate. Saul thanked them for the consideration.
Photo from Google Images
I’m not sure how this article was sourced or published but this wall is a far more serious issue than the Township will admit. I’m one of the affected properties and indeed have petitioned the Township for engineering assistance. Instead of offering my comments I’ll let the video evidence speak for itself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJqncNcsAqw
Steve, The Post regularly covers the Board of Commissioners’ meetings. I was in the audience when Ellis Saul made his presentation to them, and wrote the story from my notes. Thanks for reading The Post.
Joe Zlomek, Managing Editor
Thanks for your prompt reply. Have you viewed the video? This is a serious problem.
Steve, I did watch the more than 11-minute video. I understand your concern. The question I repeatedly hear raised regarding it, however, is: whose problem is it?
I am told the township does not own the property, and was not responsible for the wall’s installation. The attorney involved reported said there is no homeowners’ association in existence, so it can’t be responsible for the wall either. Who owns it, do you know?
Mr. Zlomek:
I’ve done a substantial amount of research and certainly have my own opinions and theories regarding this matter. However, we are in a state of mutual cooperation and discovery right now so I’d rather not comment any further. As we stated in the meeting, and as the Township has agreed it is in all of our best interests to find a resolution that’s mutually beneficial and acceptable to all parties. I’m sure that at some point in the future we can disclose more information to you but at this juncture that would not be appropriate, at least not from my perspective. Thank you.
Steve, understood. And, by the way, call me “Joe.” You’ll find that everyone else here does, and sometimes they call me worse! “Mr. Zlomek” is reserved for my 85-year-old father, who’s earned the title. Thanks, again, for your readership.