East Bethlehem Township addresses blight issues
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
East Bethlehem Township Commissioner Joe Swinchock and township secretary Maryann Kuback walk past a three-story Millsboro building that is collapsing. Township officials have been forced to close the intersection of Mill Street and Garner Avenue due to the dangerous condition of the building.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard East Bethlehem Township CommissionerJoe Swinchock and township secretary Maryann Kubacki examine an illegal dump site in the Vestaburg area of the township.
EAST BETHLEHEM TWP. — Ordinances designed to make the Washington County township a better place to live and do business will be considered by the commissioners at their September meeting.
Coming up for vote Sept. 14 are a quality-of-life ordinance that streamlines the process for citing property owners for high grass, garbage accumulation, failure to remove snow and ice, and similar issues; and an ordinance requiring vacant structures to be registered with the township.
Township secretary Maryann Kubacki said that as the township met with other municipalities last year to consider joining the Washington County Land Bank, officials realized that they faced the same problems as other communities in the region.
“We found out that other communities had processes in place to address those problems,” Kubacki said.
East Bethlehem Township officials began researching the ordinances in place elsewhere and decided similar ordinances could benefit their community as well.
“The new board wants to take an active stance against blight,” said Joe Swinchock, president of the board of commissioners. “We need to get businesses here so we can get people to move in. There’s no family that’s going to move into a house that on either side it’s flea-infested, the grass is three feet high and the windows are broken in.”
Swinchock said that as the jobs left the area, so did the younger generation, leaving their parents and their parents’ homes, behind. As the older generation died off, houses were left vacant by out-of-town relatives, leading to further deterioration of the community.
One proposed ordinance calls for all vacant buildings, residential or commercial, to be registered with the township. That registration must include the contact information for the owner, manager or other responsible party. Those responsible for maintaining the property must perform monthly inspections to ascertain that the property meets all ordinance requirements, including keeping the building secure and maintaining any landscaping. The property must also be posted with a 24-hour toll-free contact number.
The registration fee for a vacant structure will be $100 the first year, increasing by $100 each year to a maximum of $500 for the fifth year and every year thereafter.
“This isn’t a moneymaker, it’s just to make people accountable,” Kubacki said.
A three-story brick building on Mill Street that Swinchock remembers as the childhood home of one of his friends and later had some commercial uses, has been long vacant and was sold at the county tax sale to someone in India. The upper floor has since collapsed inward, taking part of the second floor with it. The township police blocked off a section of Mill Street and a section of Garner Avenue because of safety concerns.
“The county won’t give us a dime to help tear it down. They say it’s an imminent danger and it’s our responsibility, but they were the ones that sold it,” Swinchock said.
The brick corner of another building is bowed, with little mortar holding the bricks. Small trees grow up through a nearby structure and a pile of trash including a mattress, an old tent and a radio sits between the two buildings.
“You’re responsible for what’s on your property,” Swinchock said.
The buildings have been vacant for years. Swinchock recalled having a physical examination done in the one building when he was hired by J&L Steel to work in the local mine. The current owner hasn’t maintained the property, and others are now using it for illegal dumping.
“This is what the community feels is OK,” Swinchock said, pointing to the pile of trash. “If we don’t do anything, it’s just going to get worse.”
It is that attitude that illegal dumping and poorly maintained properties are acceptable that the township is hoping to combat with the new ordinances.
Kubacki said the quality-of-life ordinance will allow the code officer to issue immediate tickets for violations instead of going through a process through the magistrate’s office that can take months while the problem goes unresolved.