NEIGHBORS SEEK UPDATE, ACTION ON VACANT HOUSE
Little movement since residents raised concerns last year
TOWAMENCIN » A group of Towamencin residents is asking for answers on an issue they brought before the township last year, and which they say has been a problem for more than a decade.
“We are here with the same problem as last year,” said Pat O’Brien of Sherwood Way.
In May 2017, several residents who live on and around Sherwood Way alerted the supervisors to a vacant house on the corner of Sherwood and Canterbury Drive, which they say has been unoccupied for at least a decade and has fallen into disrepair.
Township staff has posted notices on the property and cut the grass last June, but residents reported Wednesday night that the house has continued to deteriorate, with several feet of standing water visible in the basement through windows, garage doors with holes large enough to let animals crawl in and out, and ground dwellers burrowing below the foundations.
“The wild animals that are around the property can contract rabies. There’s a lot of young children that play on that block, and if one of them should get bit, or somebody’s pet could get bit, we’d have a problem,” O’Brien said.
As he spoke, O’Brien handed the supervisors a series of photos he said showed further deterioration over the past year, with the standing water in the basement accompanied by overgrown grass, holes burrowed by creatures trying to get below, missing windows, and peeling plaster and paint on the outside walls.
“We realize it’s a very serious situation. None of us would want to live next to that — none of us on the board, none of us on the staff.” — Towamencin Supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson
Steve Stigliano of 1503 Sherwood, directly next to the abandoned house, said he has several concerns — the deteriorating house could cause a hazard for kids, and also a drop in property values for their parents.
“A lot of our neighbors are being reassessed by the county, and our taxes are going up and our property values are doing down. That’s not my biggest concern — my biggest concern are my children, a 4-yearold and a 7-year-old,” Stigliano said.
Stigliano told the board he had researched records on the property and found judgments from the federal Internal Revenue Service and from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s tax office against the property, but with little action recently.
“From the commonwealth, there’s a $236,000 judgement from 2010 that hasn’t moved in eight years. So to expect the commonwealth or the federal government to move on it, at this point, kinda seems moot,” he said.
Barbara Vargas of Canterbury Way, just across from the house in question, said her daughter and mother are both fearful of going outside since seeing a raccoon run across their property, coming from the abandoned house, in broad daylight.
“That’s not why we moved here 18 months ago, and I’d like to feel safe, and I’d like to know how we can do that?” she said.
Supervisors’ Chairman Chuck Wilson said all five board members have been keeping an eye on the situation since the concerns came up last year, but the township is limited in its legal options.
“We realize it’s a very serious situation. None of us would want to live next to that — none of us on the board, none of us on the staff,” Wilson said.
“We definitely feel for you, but we’re also limited in terms of what the township can do, and what action we can take,” he said.
Solicitor Jack Dooley gave details of what he has uncovered since last year: the property owner, listed in Montgomery County records as a Joseph M. Bell, appears to have continued to pay local taxes and the mortgage on the property, meaning no efforts from the mortgage holder or county to claim the property.
“I’ve never seen this, in all of my years of experience. We have seen many houses deteriorate and get into bad conditions, but never for 15 years,” Dooley said.
Dooley said he and his firm have been in contact with IRS officials twice in recent weeks to discuss the property, and when Stigliano said he had heard the IRS had dropped its claims against the property, Dooley said he was unaware of that development, but it would be a positive step if true.
“If that lien is gone, that’s wonderful news. That may
give us a way to finally get this done, because that then allows us to go to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and see if they’ll force a sale — which they may very well do,” Dooley said.
“It’d be in their interest to do it, and they’ll be able to do it far quicker than we ever could,” he said.
In his talks with the IRS, Dooley said, he was told to send information on the case to an IRS processing office in Atlanta, which was done earlier this week.
“We’ve done that, but I’m not promising that’s going to cause any quick action. We are dealing with the IRS,” he said.
The IRS claim against the property was calculated at over $3 million in 2008, and if interest has accrued since then it could be as high as $6 million , Dooley said, and if the property is ever sold any federal claims would be addressed first, then state, then local last.
“If the township spends money in pursuit of this, the township will never recover that money out of that property. And that’s OK — that would be a judgement for the board,” Dooley said.
“But it does create an issue of how much can the township afford to spend, even though we’re not going to get any money back?” he said.
Stigliano said he had researched the township’s codebook and the 2009 International Property Maintenance Code that appear to allow a township to take action to condemn a property if it cannot be inhabited, and Dooley said his goal is to try to create conditions for a new owner to take it over and repair it first.
“I still want to get the property sold. Declaring it condemned doesn’t get that property sold,” Dooley said.
Stigliano replied that the residents would be fine with the house demolished and a vacant lot there instead, and Dooley said any action to do so would need to be taken by the board. Melissa Schubert, also of Sherwood, asked if Dooley knew whether the property owner is still alive, and Dooley said he did not know if the owner is alive, but knows the taxes are still being paid.
“We can’t take over a property just because the owner passed away. We don’t have the authority to do that,” Dooley said.
“Who does?” Schubert asked. “No one I’m aware of,” he replied.
Wilson and Dooley said the board would discuss further options for the property in an executive session following Wednesday night’s board meeting, and no action would be taken Wednesday but could be done during the board’s June meetings.
Supervisor Rich Marino asked that the property be kept on the board’s agenda for the near future, so residents can hear updates until any movement happens.
“It’s something that’s really unique, and it doesn’t fit any of our areas of expertise,” he said.
“I don’t want you to leave here feeling like you don’t know what the next step is,” Marino said.
After trying the IRS, Marino told the neighbors, township staff will then see what steps can be taken at the state level, and any local actions are a last resort.
“You mentioned condemnation. That’s one that’s down on the list, because it involves condemning a private property, even though it is a hazard,” he said.
“At some point, it’s just not as clean as we’d like it to be, because of the money that’s owed, but at least you have our word that it’s going to keep being on the agenda, and we’ll keep updating you,” Marino said.
Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7:30 p.m. on June 13 at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road.