Editor’s note: We find ourselves in agreement with the majority on council who voted for this undertaking. We also feel the tax breaks for Heritage Coach Co. were necessary. Having that property sit idle accomplishes nothing and provides no income for the borough or the school district. It also provides no employment which means there is less money to be spent on existing Pottstown businesses. Until the word gets out to the investment community that Pottstown is open for business and that establishing a business in Pottstown is a good idea, incentives will need to be used to attract development.
Cleaning up Pottstown would go along way towards fostering development. Nobody wants to open a business in a crime-ridden community. Unfortunately, that is the perception you are dealing with, whether it’s entirely true or not. Perception IS reality. Cracking down on crime, Section 8 housing and the pervasive drug problem need to be priority one in order to attract business, industry and homeowners. The number of rental units is too high, partly due to reputation of the Pottstown School District, the reputation of Pottstown Borough and the high taxes. Any real estate professional will tell you the same thing. Selling a home in Pottstown is difficult.
POTTSTOWN — Prospects for development along Keystone Boulevard have been bolstered by two votes of borough council Monday evening.
With a unanimous vote, the council approved a “memorandum of understanding” with West Pottsgrove that pledges both municipalities to pursue efforts to extend Keystone Boulevard, which runs parallel to West High Street and the Schuylkill River, into West Pottsgrove to connect with Grosstown Road.
“It’s a conceptual agreement for defining a path to move forward,” Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. explained to council.
The extension of Keystone Boulevard through the former Flagg Brass property in West Pottsgrove and over to the Stowe interchange has long been envisioned and was the subject of an $81,000 study by the Rettew Associates engineering firm.
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