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Despite giving an example of blight in their municipality the tough attention it deserves, the Logan Township supervisors extended a degree of leniency -- correctly -- to the owner of a blighted property on Sandy Run Road, giving her about four months to get the unsightly situation under control.
The supervisors had the option to file a misdemeanor code-violation charge against the property owner, based on the fact that repeated citations had been issued against the property. However, all considered, the supervisors' action probably was the right move, due to all of the circumstances in play
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see whether four months really is enough time to return the property to a condition acceptable to township rules and regulations.
Hopefully, the owner will be successful.
As described in an article in the Mirror's June 27-28 edition, junk and trash litter the yard, and the house at the site is in disrepair -- to the point that it probably has prevented a neighbor from selling her own property.
That's not a situation unknown to other communities that have experienced blight-related problems because of municipal inattention.
For Logan, though, blight infestation is not a problem that's widespread. The township is a beautiful municipality where most people would not object to residing.
However, even in communities that are on top of addressing unwanted situations, a problem can evolve -- and the Sandy Run Road property is an example.
Thus, the township as a whole becomes stained because one property -- or, in some places, several -- has become a community burden.
Such situations must not be allowed to remain, as expeditiously as possible.
Yes, Logan is right in being tough on the property owner in question, considering how long the property has been a problem. Yet a municipality -- in this instance, Logan -- is right in extending what must be a final morsel of compassion where that morsel can be deemed in order.
Regarding the Sandy Run Road property, it is reasonable to assume that a degree of compassion is acceptable because of a sewer lien in the amount of about $6,000 that apparently was slow in being disclosed, including to that property's now-owner.
The property was bought from the Blair County repository in 2022. According to the June 27-28 Mirror article, property bought from the repository generally carries the assurance that there are no liens.
An error occurred regarding the Sandy Run Road property, however. The Mirror article reported that the sewer lien "remained attached because the township wasn't properly served notice of the repository sale, according to township solicitor Dan Stants."
The Mirror article in question indicated that the Logan supervisors were unlikely to forgive that bill because of the bad precedent that it might create. But would the property's current owner have bought the property if she had been aware of the lien and all of its potential ramifications?
That point is a basis for debating whether forgiveness now really would be a precedent matter.
It's unfortunate that the Sandy Run Road situation has evolved, and the problems with the property must be eradicated.
Perhaps, as the Mirror article indicated, availability of a church group to attack the property's problems might exist. Perhaps there are other available hands, or perhaps a company willing to donate some of its time on behalf of the property and its financially strapped owner.
Regardless, the four-month clock is ticking. Hopefully, the hands of that clock will click on success before the deadline arrives.