Demolition of a designated historic building in New Castle PA
There are months of backstory to this, but here's the summary:
City planners decided that the best way to help rebuild this small, economically strained town, would be to destroy two old and historic buildings right in the heart of downtown so that a huge Speedway gas station/convenience store can be installed. In 2010 the median household income of the town is around $25K, and it's likely decreased since then.
Local residents (Trump voters, by a substantial and vocal margin) praise the development for bringing about 30 jobs into town, but they're idiots. These will overwhelmingly be low wage part time jobs with no benefits, so we'll all be subsidizing those employees because they'll qualify for public assistance.
It's being built at the base of a long hill where traffic already snarls, and it's all but guaranteed to kill two independent gas stations nearby along with a string of other locally owned businesses. Residents claim that it will bring business to town, but how? Was a big tech firm biding its time until New Castle had a place to get nachos at three in the morning? Residents also claim that it will bring tax revenue into town, but that's idiocy.
Residents of the well-developed and higher-income community north of town won't use it, because they already have a large Sheetz and several chain gas stations more conveniently located. Since there's no appreciable access to the site from outside, no one from outside the town will use it (I mean, who drives into a town to see a gas station?) In short, any revenue that the business takes in will be coming from local money, and it will be shipped out of state to the owners. Tax revenue will likewise come from the purchases made by those within the already-impoverished community, meaning no new money from outside. And when the Speedway doesn't prosper in this depressed little town, they'll leave a huge derelict lot with buried gas tanks.
It's a lose-lose for the town and everyone in it except those receiving direct financial benefit. And it's all the more infuriating because the locals (with their abundant "Impeach Obummer" and "Killary for Prison" yard signs still standing) think that it's the best thing in the whole history of ever, and anyone who says otherwise is derided for for not wanting to improve the town (as if that's what's happening here).
So here's the latest: as recently as a few days ago, local Code Enforcement stated that no decision had been made re: the demolition of the sites. A judge who'd been monitoring the case was to be informed before further action was taken. Then, this morning, a crew swept in and knocked down the buildings while our locals were sleeping or at church or prepping to watch Brady lose the Superbowl. According to my friend who works nearby, the demolition vehicles were unmarked, with no signs on display to name the company.
There have been public hearings at several points along the way, but it's clear that they were "here's what we're doing" meetings rather than "we want community input" meetings. In short, it's been a done deal all along, and no one but the beneficiaries have had any say in the process, aside from the aforementioned judge.
In fairness, I have no reason to doubt that the judge is acting in good faith and will likely have something to say about the unilateral action, so we'll see.
What can be done in cases like this? Yes, we can vote out local officials, but that's a long way off and they're years-entrenched. Is there some state authority to whom one can appeal when a town fucks its residents this way?
Thanks for listening and for any input.
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