County Eliminates Back Taxes on Plating Works Site

POTTSTOWN PA – Montgomery County will waive collection of, and wipe from its ledgers, thousands of dollars in back taxes owed over roughly a decade on the former Pottstown Plating Works property at 215 S. Washington St., the county Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed Thursday (July 21, 2022).

The property’s owner since 2020, 215 South Washington Street LLC, has worked to redevelop the site for commercial use, the board learned. It also has invested substantially in an environmental clean-up there and to keep current taxes paid.

County Director of Commerce David Zellers Jr., and Pottstown Area Economic Development Executive Director Peggy Lee Clark, both asked commissioners to exonerate $48,686 in county taxes. During May and June meetings this year Pottstown Borough, its Sewer Authority, and the Pottstown School District also forgave a total of more than $1.03 million in back taxes owed on the same parcel, Clark reported.

Getting rid of the dated tax debt, incurred by a previous owner, will help the developer pursue additional financing for the project and continue remediation work, Zellers said. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has stated the property was contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and industrial and dry-cleaning solvents.

The commissioners’ decision is a repeat of one they made during 2018, Clark acknowledged, but unanticipated environmental regulatory issues delayed the ability to act on it earlier. Now, “almost four years since the last time we were here,” she added, significant progress is being made at the property. Roof trusses were being erected there Thursday morning, she reported with a smile.

The building remains a long way from being ready for occupancy, Clark added. Exterior and interior work at the 3.9-acre parcel, as well as preparing it for specific tenants, has yet to be completed. However, she showed commissioners artists’ renderings (at top and above) of how the property is expected to appear when finished. “This is what the future looks like,” Clark said as they displayed.

“I’ll look forward to seeing it,” commissioners’ Chair Dr. Valerie Arkoosh replied.

Images from screenshots of the commissioners’ meeting online, captured by The Post
June 2020 photo of the Plating Works property by The Post