No Vacancy?

It's been eight months since it was adopted, so some of you may have forgotten, but the borough ordinance requiring that owners of vacant property file a registration with the borough started Sept. 1.

Code Enforcement Supervisor Maria Bleile said despite there being numerous vacant properties in Pottstown, only one single registration form was filed in September.

The ordinance requires the property owner to file a registration within 60 days after the property becomes vacant.

The registration is valid for one year and a new registration must be filed if the property remains vacant. That registration (or renewal) comes at a cost, that is outlined below.

Here is the first page of the form:

Here is the second page of the form, showing the fee structure for the registrations:

The full six-page ordinance can be viewed on the Pottstown Borough Web Site by clicking here. 

Pottstown’s Blighted Property Review Committee has identified more than 100 buildings since it began tracking them in 2007.

The borough contends that owners of these vacant blighted properties “are neglectful of them and are not maintaining or securing them in adequate standards or restoring them to productive use.”

The empty buildings also have the potential to “increase criminal activity, can increase the risk of fire and generally pose an increasing concern for public health,” according to the ordinance.

Vacant structures also diminish property values and cost the borough money in the form of property inspections, fire calls and police calls, the ordinance finds.

"It's been a while since it was adopted and we just wanted to remind people that this ordinance is out there and people need to register these properties," Bleile said.