Collegeville Council takes first step toward eminent domain acquisition of Perkiomen Bridge Hotel

Collegeville Borough Council unanimously took the first step last week in the process to acquire the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel by eminent domain.

Council approved Ordinance 619 which authorized “the condemnation and taking by eminent domain of a fee simple interest over the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel, property of Thomas Crawford, owner of the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel, Ltd. for public purposes.”

The ordinance also authorizes the solicitor to proceed with the acquisition via eminent domain and to authorize payment of just compensation for the property at 1 East Main St.

Per the ordinance, the borough has identified eminent domain necessary “to serve the needs of the Borough and its residents, businesses, and the general public of the Borough.”

In order to proceed with eminent domain, council had to first approve an ordinance to declare its intention to take the private property.

Once condemned, Collegeville Borough Council must ensure the public property is used for public open space, parks, stormwater management, recreation, or public parking, per the ordinance.

Located in the Borough of Collegeville, The Perkiomen Bridge Hotel dates back to the early 1700s, and acts as a “gateway to Collegeville.” It is the first building that people see when they cross into the Borough over the Perkiomen Creek Bridge from Lower Providence Township. 

The hotel, which has been privately owned for 14 years, has not been maintained and has continued to deteriorate. 

Following the flooding from Hurricane Ida in September 2021, which demolished the 1900s additions to the hotel, Collegeville Borough sent the owner a “Notice of Violation” letter for his neglect of his now blighted property. The owner repeatedly told the Borough he had offers and would be selling the property. More than three years later the same individual still owns the property and has done nothing to clean it up.

The borough filed an injunction against the property owner to force the cleanup of the hotel. The Borough also cited the property owner for code violations. Specifically:

• The borough is requiring the owner to tear down the damaged non-historic additions to the building, haul the debris away, clear the area, and board up and secure the building so that it looks tidy and ready to renovate.

This resulted in the following:

• The owner appealed the Borough’s “Notice of Violation” on March 29, 2023. The borough held a hearing, and denied his appeal. The Borough then began citing him each week for non- compliance with the Borough’s Code. The citations were filed with Magisterial District Court Kathleen Rebar who held a hearing on the matter on July 25, 2024.
• At the hearing, Judge Rebar found the property owner guilty. She fined him $1,000 in addition to the borough’s fine of $1,500 a week.
• The owner then appealed Judge Rebar’s decision to the Montgomery Court of Common Pleas.
• The Court of Common Pleas issued an Order requiring the property owner to tear down and remove the damaged sections of the hotel and clean up and secure the property. There was a deadline set by the Court to allow the property owner to comply. To date, the property owner has failed to comply with the terms of the Order.
• Because the owner has refused to act on his obligation to clean up his property for over two years, on Aug. 2, 2023, the Collegeville Borough Council voted to file an injunction against them. The Order issued as a result of the injunction allows the Borough to remove the damaged sections of the hotel and clean up and seal the building so it is no longer an eyesore. A lien would then be placed against the hotel to recover the cost should the Borough do the work.

    (Credit: Collegeville EDC)
  

    (Credit: Collegeville EDC)
  

The owner bought the hotel in 2010 for $185,000 and it has been listed on the commercial real estate site LoopNet for close to 10 years for $545,000. See the listing on Loopnet.com.

On March 7, 2022, historic construction experts from Historic Trappe conducted a review of the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel to determine whether it was structurally sound and the extent of the damage from Hurricane Ida. 

The hotel was deemed structurally sound and $200,000 was estimated as the cost to tear off and cart away debris from the non-historic damaged additions to the building and secure the building, according to the borough.

Over four years ago, the owner received a $1M PA RACP grant to renovate the hotel. If the hotel is sold, the grant goes with the hotel and to the new owner. The grant requires a $1M match. The owner would have about four years left to exercise the grant, according to the borough.

In late 2022, the borough passed a Historic Resource Protection Ordinance that protected all borough properties built over 200 years ago from demolition, according to the borough. 

    (Credit: Collegeville EDC)
  

The owner cannot tear the hotel down without the approval of the Council. If the hotel were to be demolished for any reason, likely no one could build something else on the property because it is in a flood plain. 

According to the borough, from 2010 through the spring of 2020, the Collegeville Borough Manager at the time insisted that the Borough could only cite the hotel owner for blight concerning his landscaping, not his building. 

The Manager refused to take further action, and the Council at the time—which was a different Council than today–supported him, according to the borough. When its new manager, Tamara Twardowski, joined in late 2020, she and the Council began the work needed to enact blight and historic ordinances to take action against the hotel owner for his blighted building, according to the borough.