It's Like Deja Vu' All Over Again.

Who are these folks and what are they holding? Read on and find out.

Monday's borough council meeting was swift, but a lot happened.

Contained within this here blog post, composed primarily of Tweets from said meeting, you will see reference to many votes:

-- Votes on the proceeds of painting sales;

-- Votes on the controversial new mini-mart at the corner of Washington and King Street;

-- Votes on extending the Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority for another four years;

-- Votes on pension plan obligations adding up to more than $1 million.

-- And this, a presentation on an event encouraging Pottstownians to be involved fathers, that will be held this Saturday in Memorial Park.

But you'll have to keep reading to find out what happened....

Nothing 'Mini" About Mini Mart Hearing

Remember this Place? Last night, borough council held is second conditional use hearing on a proposal to put a mini-mart grocery story in the first floor of this building. 

So here's the thing.

Last night was a long night, made so by the three-hour duration of the second, yes SECOND, conditional use hearing for a proposal to establish the Torres Mini-Mart in the first floor of this building at King and Washington Streets.

There were lawyers, there was testimony, there were petitions, questions, commentary. You name it.

All the things that make democracy great.

But just because I was subjected to this dear reader, does not mean you have to live through it the same way I did.

So after about 48 seconds of deliberation, I decided to post the Tweets from the hearing today, separately from those from the regular meeting.

Those will appear in tomorrow's post.

"But what about tomorrow night's Pottsgrove School Board meeting Tweet-master? When will that appear?"

I hear you gentle reader.

All I can say is good things come to those who wait.

Without further ado, here are the Tweets from the conditional use hearing made necessary after David and Katy Jackson challenged council's first approval in April, claiming it was inadequate.

Rather than fight it out in court, both sides agreed to come back to borough council for what is essentially a "do-over."

The results of that agreement appear below.

New Hearing for Mini-Mart

Photo by Evan Brandt

This is the location at which the Torres Mini-Mart is being proposed.

An approved mini-mart at the corner of King and Washington streets was unapproved by council Monday, but hopes to get re-approved.

Borough Council voted unanimously to revoke the April 14 approval of a "conditional use" permit for Emmanuel Torres, for opening a mini-mart on the first floor of 454 King St.

The most recent use for the space was as Lotto's Bar.

Council approved the conditional use the same month it approved another convenience store, this one at 451 N. Charlotte St. in the space most recently occupied by the Milkman Lunch Co. before that shop moved to High Street.

That store has since opened.

Torres said he would not be cooking at the store and would only be selling pre-prepared and packaged foods.

But several residents, including Katy Jackson of King Street, Cindy Conard of Wilson Street and Barry Beasley Jr. of Jefferson Avenue all noted at the time that there are already several such stores within several blocks of the King Street site.

“I don’t know how many more mini-markets a town our size needs,” Beasley said.

At Monday's meeting, Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. told council that the conditional approval "was appealed by the owner of a neighboring property."

Attorneys for the borough, the business and the appealing property owner all agreed to have the approval negated by Torres "withdrawing" his request, and then re-submitting it.

That will result in a new conditional use hearing, tentatively scheduled for the council meeting of Monday, Aug. 11, Garner said.