🤔PennDOT forces popular PA business to close, Here’s why

[JaySmith]

Lowball offers for eminent domain confiscations can be appealed. It sucks that it costs money but it it's a lot of money, it's worth it. Loser should have to pay legal fees.

Apparently they have spent over a year fighting the offer, without success. I dont' know the details, though. Just up the street, fanaro brothers sold a lot of similar size privately, and retired at 40.

[Exbiker]

I believe you have been around long enough to know how that works!

I don't know. I was zoning hearing board then a couple decades on planning commission and a township supervisor now for 3 years. Never got anything. I need to know especially since penndot is doing 2 roundabouts, a couple bridge projects and a major road realignment on 115.

[Sandcut]

Totally in line with the Fifth Amendment, boys. Don't know what yer bellyachin' over. The owners are being compensated well for this. Does it suck to have to move after 50 years? Maybe. We don't know where they're going to end up. Could end up someplace better.

It could also be a facade to build groundswell in public support, as a ploy to extract a higher payment for the land from PADOT. Perhaps even have somebody start a GoFundMe account for them, which they turn around and say, "Sorry, but it just wasn't enough", all the while not needing to give the gift back.

If this was a Takings case, I'd support it. But, it's not. They are being fairly compensated. No one bothered to ask how many people would be impacted if they opted for an alternate design.

Shit changes. It's the nature of things.

[Walleye Hunter]

Totally in line with the Fifth Amendment, boys. Don't know what yer bellyachin' over. The owners are being compensated well for this. Does it suck to have to move after 50 years? Maybe. We don't know where they're going to end up. Could end up someplace better.

It could also be a facade to build groundswell in public support, as a ploy to extract a higher payment for the land from PADOT. Perhaps even have somebody start a GoFundMe account for them, which they turn around and say, "Sorry, but it just wasn't enough", all the while not needing to give the gift back.

If this was a Takings case, I'd support it. But, it's not. They are being fairly compensated. No one bothered to ask how many people would be impacted if they opted for an alternate design.

Shit changes. It's the nature of things.

Are you saying that something about this doesn't pass the sniff test?

[Delkal]

Are you saying that something about this doesn't pass the sniff test?

One thing that smells is I couldn't find any hint that a lawsuit was filed. There are strict timelines about appealing eminent domain and the records are public. People are just speculating that they have been fighting this for years or they are getting pennies on the dollar.

And not that it matters much but they have only been there 25 years. There first location was in Norristown and I assume they voluntarily moved to a better location. Is having a store where traffic always backs up really a good location?

[Sandcut]

Are you saying that something about this doesn't pass the sniff test?

Nope.

I'm saying two things.

1. The property is being taken lawfully, according to the Constitution, and

2. The owners could be legitimately concerned or they could be manipulating public opinion to leverage a better deal. Either option is plausible.

[Capt]

I live close to that intersection.They fixed it in Collegeville a while ago which really did little if nothing. It's rough at rush hour not that bad other times. But they keep buiding and more and more cars on the road (old roads never meant for all the cars that now use them). So you get them out of lower Providence in a hurry but where will they go? Ridge pike one lane either way and the lights and college. Rt 29 one lane each way or 29 going toward Phonixville also a cluster fuck of lights and trafic and the intersection in Collegeville (the one they fixed is another cluster fuck) Jerseys removing their circles and Pa putting them in a joke and waste of money at best. All they'll do is move congestion a little farther down the road and disrupt the lives on the small business's. Bridge hotel alrighta historic building thats falling down. floods all the time, did i mention the floods are getting worse? Not weather, keep building paving, roofs none of which help the creek or anybody living near it.Detenion basin well their now nature areas let them grow wild and lost the abilty to help with the floods. These planning people are a joke.

[Sandcut]

I live close to that intersection.They fixed it in Collegeville a while ago which really did little if nothing. It's rough at rush hour not that bad other times. But they keep buiding and more and more cars on the road (old roads never meant for all the cars that now use them). So you get them out of lower Providence in a hurry but where will they go? Ridge pike one lane either way and the lights and college. Rt 29 one lane each way or 29 going toward Phonixville also a cluster fuck of lights and trafic and the intersection in Collegeville (the one they fixed is another cluster fuck) Jerseys removing their circles and Pa putting them in a joke and waste of money at best. All they'll do is move congestion a little farther down the road and disrupt the lives on the small business's. Bridge hotel alrighta historic building thats falling down. floods all the time, did i mention the floods are getting worse? Not weather, keep building paving, roofs none of which help the creek or anybody living near it.Detenion basin well their now nature areas let them grow wild and lost the abilty to help with the floods. These planning people are a joke.

So.........you're suggesting that, in order to eliminate the congestion and increase the flow they should widen all of the roads regionally?

Wouldn't that necessitate a far greater amount of property loss via eminant domain?

[Walleye Hunter]

So.........you're suggesting that, in order to eliminate the congestion and increase the flow they should widen all of the roads regionally?

Wouldn't that necessitate a far greater amount of property loss via eminant domain?

The problem at that intersection is unique. It involves an historical bridge and hotel that are in the way. They create a genuine bottleneck in a busy area. The bridge is an old arched, stone bridge with a curve on it at a spot where two main streets through Norristown converge. It used to be complicated by a dogleg intersedtion with PA 29 but they have removed that dogleg and made a normal intersection out of it.

[Capt]

So.........you're suggesting that, in order to eliminate the congestion and increase the flow they should widen all of the roads regionally?

Wouldn't that necessitate a far greater amount of property loss via eminant domain?

Although that would work I think there might be an issue or two with it. The real problem is their very old roads built when there were less people few cars and no shopping centers etc. Now we have a real influx of people (I've lived here for 65 years) in the area. What they've done is have a helter skelter approach to planning. "fix"one thing which moves the problem to another area solving pretty much nothing. SO they kept the bridge since it's historic, they kept the bridge hotel for the same reason. So as the hotel falls down from age and desrepair they'll put a circle in while they could just put a new bridge right alongside the old one tear down the hotel before it falls all the way down and maybe there would be an improvemnt. Removes the dog leg a extra lane and bingo. Or stop having all these half ass townships do they're palnning for their area only to make an issues for another. Bottom line there's too many people cars and stores. Some People drive very poorly and create more problems So spend money on a stupid ass circle buying property and paying union wages and let ridge pike have their pot holes along with many other roads in bad shape. Keep building and then blame the floods on global waming instead of poor water management. If I felt their plan would help I'd be all for it but it won't help long term.