{"id":13419,"date":"2016-05-13T08:45:23","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T12:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=13419"},"modified":"2016-05-13T08:45:10","modified_gmt":"2016-05-13T12:45:10","slug":"urban-affairs-committee-looks-at-blight-in-chester-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=13419","title":{"rendered":"Urban affairs committee looks at blight in Chester County"},"content":{"rendered":"

House panel tours Downingtown, Caln, Coatesville and Parkesburg<\/em><\/h2>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"BlightHearing\"

The State House Urban Affairs Committee prepares to hold a hearing on the impact of blight in Chester County, Wednesday at Coatesville City Hall.<\/p><\/div>\n

COATESVILLE \u2014 The State House\u2019s Urban Affairs Committee held a special hearing in the city Wednesday to address economic development and the ongoing problem of dealing with abandoned properties \u2014 often termed as blight \u2014 in Chester County.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the issue of abandoned properties might best be identified with the city, it has been and continues to be an issue elsewhere in Chester County, too, including some of the more affluent communities in the county. Local officials came to testify before the committee hearing at City Hall, which included local legislators Harry Lewis Jr. (R-74) and Becky Corbin (R-155), both about managing the issue of abandoned properties and fostering an atmosphere of growth, so there is market demand for properties.<\/span><\/p>\n

The group of legislators toured the area from Downingtown, through Coatesville \u2014 with briefings on both municipalities anticipated new train stations \u2014 and on out to Parkesburg on Tuesday, so they could get up close look at what some of the subject matter would be during the hearing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Committee Chair Scott Petri (R-178) a Bucks County legislator with more than a passing familiarity with Chester County, as he grew up in Downingtown, said the term blight can be used to describe a lot of issues, but it generally means a community or neighborhood stuck in a downward spiral, with abandoned homes leading to lower property values, more crime and then, ultimately, more homes abandoned. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an issue that got worse in the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, when folks lost jobs, got behind on their home payments and walked away. In many cases, banks own the homes, many of which have fallen into disrepair, leaving them with no one wanting to buy them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBlight, in the end, is something you know, when you see it,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause of the 2008 economic downturn, a lot of communities are facing the problem of vacant properties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To be sure, while acknowledging the problem, the hearing was far from all doom and gloom. It was a chance for the local community to hear \u2014 and comment \u2014 on the issue and talk about how communities are working to fight their way back and what help could come from the state legislature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the communities cannot come to Harrisburg,\u201d Lewis said, \u201cso we\u2019re coming to the community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lewis said he thought holding the hearing in the city would signal support for revitalization efforts across the region from both Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to show that we are very serious about the rebuilding and revitalization of the communities of the 74th District,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The primary testimony during the three-hour plus hearing came from city officials, who spoke about current problems as well as ongoing redevelopment projects, including the planned redevelopment at Lincoln Highway and Route 82, Caln Township officials spoke about how a tax abatement program has sparked development along Lincoln Highway in the township, officials from the Downingtown Main Street Association spoke about their efforts to spark revitalization of the borough\u2019s downtown, officials from Chester County Airport spoke about expansion plans and Parkesburg officials spoke about how they\u2019ve coped with much of their housing base converted to rental properties.<\/span><\/p>\n

While all detailed challenges \u2014 and where Harrisburg could be more helpful \u2014 all also talked about the path forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

City Manager Michael Trio, who has a lengthy land management background, focused on the possibilities for his city, calling it a \u201chidden gem\u201d with \u201cgreat bones,\u201d meaning Coatesville has all of the infrastructure in place for redevelopment, but just needs to build momentum.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the train station project and the planned redevelopment of the Lincoln Highway corridor, Trio suggests that momentum is starting to build, yet challenges remain. He cited the $25 million project as an example.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the developers are doing the heavy lifting for commercial\/mixed use properties planned, it is on the city to rebuild and reengineer the intersection of Route 82 and Lincoln Highway to accommodate it. The project will cost $1.2 million, but the city has a matching grant from Chester County for $700,000. The problem, he notes, is for the cash-strapped city to find the other $500,000 to match from general revenues. <\/span><\/p>\n

While the matching grant process means communities have skin in the game, it makes it tough for those communities in dire financial straits such as Coatesville to find a path forward, he noted. He suggested it would help to have a sliding scale \u2014 based on a municipalities\u2019 financial health \u2014 on the percentages of the match.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rep. James Santora (R-163), who noted he has long known and worked with Trio, said Coatesville reminds him a lot of Conshohocken when both worked on revitalization projects there some years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis sounds like Conshohocken to me when we got there,\u201d he said, noting he sees the same opportunity, as long as local officials are just as flexible with local zoning and project approval. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe projects may not fit what you\u2019re used to,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it (allowing different sorts of proposals) is what made Conshohocken successful. Now, the irony is that they need affordable housing, townhouse prices have exploded.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Caln Commssioner Joshua Young testified about how his township has taken advantage of the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program \u2014 which reduces local, school and county taxes on new construction and expansion for up to 10 years. The program is designed to increase the local tax base over the long term, moderately increase it over the short term all while not reducing tax income for the county, schools or municipalities. LERTA has been a key factor in four projects now completed, he said, with two more on the verge of approval. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although LERTA has been a success story in Caln, Young noted a few tweaks could make it work even better. He asked that the legislature require taxing authorities \u2014 schools and counties \u2014 be required to respond to a municipality wishing to create a LERTA district within a specific time. Young said while Chester County quickly signed on and supported the effort, the Coatesville Area School District stalled the proposal for two years, on the basis of a single board director \u2014 Young didn\u2019t specify in his testimony, but previously sources identified the individual as former Director Jack Dunn \u2014 before finally approving the LERTA district in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chester County Airport Board Chairman Albert Koenig testified about the growth plans for the airport \u2014 plans that should help overall economic growth in the region, he said. He detailed plans for new hangers as well an expansion of the terminal building and eventually, a new runway.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most pressing issue is the need to get approval to build a control tower \u2014 right now, at an airport with more business jet traffic than Lancaster or Reading airports, pilots depend on talking directly with each other, which limits the amount of traffic at the field and compromises safety. Additionally, neighboring Sikorsky Aircraft must truck its new helicopters across Washington Lane, closing the roadway periodically, for flight testing. With a control tower, Sikorsky could fly them directly from the factory \u2014 meaning an end to road closures. <\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Koenig noted, the Federal Aviation Administration has placed a moratorium on new towers as it revises the regulations. So far, working with local members of Congress, the Airport has been unsuccessful in moving the project ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Parkesburg Borough Manager James Thomas talked about a couple of issues, including tougher new ordinances related to rental properties \u2014 and ongoing frustration over needed reworking of Route 372 through the middle of the downtown.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack Assetto, member of the Parkesburg Business Association, explained the issue with Route 372.<\/span><\/p>\n

The roadway sits on top of old trolley tracks, he noted \u2014 the old Coatesville to Atglen line \u2014 and as a result, is highly crowned in the middle of road. Assetto said that the middle of the roadway is as much as a foot higher than the sidewalks \u2014 a roadblock to downtown revitalization in the borough. He said that discussions with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation have proven fruitless \u2014 PennDOT as a policy does not deal with items under the roadbed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new ordinances regulating rental units \u2014 especially those calling for eviction on tenants with three police calls to their home in a year \u2014 have generally been accepted by local property owners, Assetto said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, according to Downingtown Main Street President\/CEO Steve Plaugher, the borough continues to push to see that its new train station is more than just \u201ca sea of pavement\u201d but rather, a mixed use development that brings value \u2014 and a walkable lifestyle to the downtown. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that\u2019s critical to the Main Street mission,\u201d he said, as the borough looks to become a destination for surrounding communities as well as having a downtown residential hub ideally suited for young professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

House panel tours Downingtown, Caln, Coatesville and Parkesburg By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times COATESVILLE \u2014 The State House\u2019s Urban Affairs Committee held a special hearing in the city Wednesday to address economic development and the ongoing problem of dealing with abandoned properties \u2014 often termed as blight \u2014 in Chester County. While the issue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[5096,63,20,5099,5098,5097],"class_list":["post-13419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-blight","tag-caln","tag-chester-county","tag-coatesville-downingtown","tag-redevlopment","tag-state-house-urban-affairs-committee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13420,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13419\/revisions\/13420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}