Bethlehem's Blighted Properties

The Bethlehem Planning Commission last week certified five city properties as blighted, a preliminary step toward taking them through eminent domain.

The property owners can avoid that fate by the correcting code violations that led to the blight declaration, which is the primary goal of the process, according to Tony Hanna, the executive director the Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority.

Property owners will be informed by mail of the blight certification and will be given a specified period of time to fix the code violations.

Bernie O’Hare’s Lehigh Valley Ramblings blog helps us with the descriptions of the following blight-certified properties:

• 1418 Stanford Road: A condemnation notice is posted on the door of this property on the city’s west side. Otherwise, there is little to tell anything is wrong. However, the inside has busted pipes and a collapsed kitchen.
• 803 Main St.: Three break-ins have made this property a police issue.
• 816 E. Fifth Street: An entire section of the back roof is missing and the ceiling has collapsed.
• 810 Monocacy St.: The former brewery behind the Old Brewery Tavern is owned by Christmas City Bottling Co. Bricks falling from the building pose a danger to pedestrians.
• 1422 Wood St.: The city has been doing all of this property’s maintenance since the owner died three years ago.