Bethlehem' Dirty Underwear

Copper brewery signs peeling from Miller building

Chief Housing Inspector Mike Palos gave Bethlehem's Planning Commissioners a virtual tour at their May 10 meeting. But instead of showing them the stately homes commonly associated with the Christmas City, Palos gave planners a peek at the City's dirty underwear - its eyesores.

Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Tony Hanna, who accompanied Palos, explained that this is all part of a procedure to encourage corrective actions from "recalcitrant property owners who refuse to deal with code violations." First, a blighted property review certifies the home. If nothing is done, the next step is a certification of blight from the Planning Commission. After that, the City can take the property under its eminent domain powers. "We're either going to get their attention or we're going to take the property," observed Hanna.

But that's a rare event. Last year, Bethlehem's Planning Commission certified six properties as blighted. In all but one case, corrective action has been taken, according to Palos. He added that the City really hates to condemn a structure, because the orange tag is "like a neon light, saying come on in and take it."

Palos told planners that Bethlehem's blight is the result of foreclosures, not absentee landlords. He explained that it's often difficult to determine which bank actually owns an abandoned property because they sell the mortgages.

After the virtual tour, planners certified the following five properties as blighted.

803 Main Street 

1. 810 Monocacy Street. - Owned by Christmas City Bottling Co., this is the old Miller Building, and is located behind the Old Brewery Tavern (OBT). Once a brewery, remnants of a tunnel to the OBT still exist. Vacant and boarded up, falling bricks present a danger to pedestrians. Palos told planners there might be actually be a pool on the third floor, but the owner has denied access. "It could be developed into something nice," Palos claims.

2. 1418 Stanford Road. - According to Palos, this foreclosed property looks like a Better Homes & Garden model from the outside. But inside, the pipes burst, the kitchen collapsed and mold is so extensive that a mask is needed.

3. 803 Main Street. - At this foreclosed row home, the new tenants are cockroaches. The inside is "trashed," according to Palos, and has become a police issue with three break-ins.

4. 816 E. Fifth Street. - Vacant since 2005, the row home is owned by Mary Whitesell, from Coopersburg, and has been the subject of numerous notices over the years. An entire section of the back roof is missing, and the ceiling has collapsed. There have also been numerous break-ins. "I need the extra squeeze here," stated Palos, hopeful he can spur remedial action.

5. 1422 Wood Street. - This homes owner died three years ago, and the City has been doing all maintenance since that time. The inside, according to Palos, is "trashed."