Editor’s note: There are a couple of take away items here. a. The Pottstown Codes Department evidently can’t process an address change. Does that require a $5,000.00 “donation”? b. The house is in poor condition and needs repairs. c. This illustrates the pitfalls of being an “investor” in Pottstown. Most likely that amount of damage didn’t happen overnight, from the sounds of the report. How often are problem properties being checked on by an owner or property manager? It sounds like the house should be demolished except the owner owes money to the bank. It will be a LONG wait until conditions improve enough in that neighborhood to make fixing up this property economically viable. So just add another vacant property to Pottstown’s housing stock.
POTTSTOWN — The district chief of staff for state Rep. Mark Painter, D-146th Dist., is the owner of a Walnut Street home that the borough has recently identified as “blighted.”
The designation was advertised in the legal notices of Wednesday’s edition of The Mercury.
Michael A. Lavanga, who heads up Painter’s district office in Sanatoga and has appeared on his behalf at local government meetings, expressed surprise Wednesday when contacted by a reporter about the advertisement.
According to the legal notice, Lavanga has 30 days to make repairs to the property including repairing or replacing rain gutters, loose paint, windows and the front steps to 409 Walnut St.
