Description
The corner house on Swarthmore Ave & Sellers is a total disgrace! The bushes are way overgrown, they are covering the whole front of the house. The trees are practically growning into the house. You can't even see any of the brick or outside of the house. It is an outrage that the township has not done anything about this. It has been like this for awhile.
29 Comments
djhphi (Guest)
Susan (Guest)
Ridley park is not a dump. Keep up your property, bring the papers in that are sitting in front of house for weeks, and take down old campaign signs
Ridley Park Resident (Guest)
Ridley Park Resident (Guest)
ridley park resident (Guest)
Ladybugcamm (Guest)
Ridley Park Resident - the first (Guest)
Parkermom (Guest)
RidleyParkOnline (Registered User)
guest (Guest)
312 Swarthmore? is that the HUGE mansion looking place that looks vacant? If so, he should fix that place up and rent it out. Same with the monstrous house at the corner of Sellers & Swarthnmore. That would be a FABULOUS place to live.
Does anyone live in either of those 2 houses? & who the heck is Pakalides?
Gabe DeRita (Guest)
RidleyParkOnline (Registered User)
Mr. Richard S. Pomeroy also formed the Pomeroy Construction Company and built homes in Ridley Park. He was Secretary of the School Board in 1888, a Borough Council member from 1894 to 1896 and Mayor from 1897 to 1900. He was active in the Presbyterian Church and was President of the Board of Trustees for 25 years (Keith Lockhart's "The History of Ridley Park").
As for Mr Pakalides, well he's a guy who doesn't care to take care of his Ridley Park properties the way 99.99% of the folks in RP would like him to.
Gail (Guest)
geez---have you seen the place we're talking about??? Compared to the rest of Ridley Park BOROUGH the owners houses really are run down and don't fit in with the rest of the area. There are many places that use the post office of Ridley Park, but they are not part of the BOROUGH. These properties are smack dab in the middle of the borough
And yes, if the weeds (they are not "bushes") were cut down, the structure would look 100% better. No one is talking about remodeling the house. Just taking care of the grounds of the house.
Seems the home owner doens't need any money. He just doesn't want to spend what he has to keep in line with the borough. The asking price for one of his other properties is over 1 million.
Just so you know, the folks complaining DO maintain their properties....
Gabe DeRita (Guest)
Ridley Park Resident (Guest)
One point I have here is: the overgrown rhododendrons are growing out over at least half if not more of the sidewalk on Swarthmore which is a hazard to anyone trying to walk and is against code.
anonymous (Guest)
Ridley Park Resident (Guest)
RidleyParkOnline (Registered User)
The issue is not whether the house it up to everyone's standards of attractiveness and curb appeal, it's about properties that extend themselves into a special category other community's call "community's nuisance properties." In Ridley Park the issue of community nuisance properties is complicated and frustrating for all sides. On the one hand the Borough is responsible for enforcing the rules the residents want to live by, and on the other hand RP's citizens are entitled to the Constitutional rights of due process - and that allows for appeal, after appeal, after appeal, until there's no more appealing possible; it's the American way and we're both blessed and cursed for having it that way.
Ridley Park Borough uses the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) and the Borough's Zoning Code to try and control out of bounds property owners; and naturally both have different appeals processes.
The IPMC allows the property owner to appeal a property maintenance code violation before a full assembly of the Property Maintenance committee. Then to appeal that decision again to a committee made up of Borough Council members, then to again-again appeal that decision to the complete assembly of Borough Council members, and then to again-again-again appeal that decision to the judicial system in Media. That's a long process to go through against a resident who doesn't want to cut their tall grass, but the fact remains; if I don't cut the grass on my property this entire summer, the greatest likelihood is I can delay all of the Borough's efforts in court until the first snow.
The appeal process of the Borough's Zoning code is more direct. Zoning code violations are heard at the District Justice level and all appeals are moved to Media. In Media, the appeal process may override the Borough's original decision, ask the property owner to show compliance, or return the matter to Ridley Park for resolution.
Code and Zoning enforcement are costly items that the tiny Borough of Ridley Park has to afford in order to keep unsafe building practices and property owners from doing what they want.
Back in April 2011 I spoke before Borough Council about this and I published a blog about it on RP's social network. It caused a small stir, and then nothing's happened since. I'd offer that more RP residents should write and call their Borough Council representatives and keep the ball rolling.
Ridley Parker (Guest)
Anonymous (Guest)
It is a really cool house though
anonymous2 (Guest)
WTF? (Guest)
AngeBonner (Guest)
megan (Guest)
kami811 (Registered User)
kami811 (Registered User)
kami811 (Registered User)
renter (Registered User)
Linda (Registered User)