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RDA questions whether Mill St. property is blight

The property located at 118 Mill St., Youngsville, owned by John Bortz, Jr., was before the Redevelopment Authority for the first time on Tuesday morning.

“What’s the matter with the property?” RDA member Chuck Barone asked.

“It’s probably uninhabitable,” County Planner Dan Glotz said. “Some windows are missing. The front porch is in pretty rough shape. The interior is completely gutted at least on the first floor.”

Glotz said that new insulation and electrical work have been completed.

Barone questioned whether the issues with the property rise to the level of blight.

“They’re really scraping the bottom of the bucket to find blighted property, I guess,” he said.

Glotz added that the property is tax delinquent in 2014 and 2015.

“It’s being rehabbed,” Barone said, noting that it likely does qualify as blight under the guidelines laid out in the ordinance. “Fix the windows and it’s no longer blighted,” he said.

Barone asked if the Authority had the power to compel the owner to replace the windows. Stapleford said that the RDA could, through the court, try to force them, or the RDA could take control of the property.

Bortz was not in attendance at Tuesday’s meetings and officials previously indicated that he did not attend a Blighted Property Review Committee meeting where the property was discussed. He also didn’t attend this month’s Planning Commission meeting where the property was discussed.

“He’s never attended any of them,” RDA member Dutch Strand said.

Planning and Zoning Secretary Laurie Burdick said that Bortz was given the appeal notification and noted that he did not respond.

Glotz said a certified letter to Bortz from the Blighted Property Review Committee went unclaimed.

“I think we’ve got to invite him to a meeting,” Stapleford said.

In other business, the Authority planned to hold another appeal hearing for a property located at 108 Railroad St., Clarendon, Mead Township, owned by Bobby Reitz.

“He’s filed an appeal so we need to have a hearing,” Stapleford advised.

Barone suggested that mowing the property would take care of the majority of the problems while Glotz said that there is a $2,400 delinquent sewer bill on the property.

The owners of the property at 15235 Rt. 6, Clarendon, Mead Township, Cynthia Osborne and James Falber, have expressed a willingness to meet with RDA members at the property to discuss the extent of the damage. Stapleford said the property is going-up for sale March 9. The owners are trying to nail down a cost to get the sewer bill paid off.

The RDA will also be purchasing the property at 4582 Rt. 6, Sheffield, currently owned by Harbour Portfolio VIII, LP. Barone said that the property needs to be demolished and officials determined between last month and this month’s meeting that Community Development Block Grant funds can be used to address the property’s issues.

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