Tamaqua move to sell parking lot discussed

Tamaqua Borough Council moved to sell a lot at the corner of Spruce and Hunter Street. The borough owned property, which is currently used as a park and parking lot, was first brought up at last month’s meeting, when the borough approved a plan to sell it, but attaching a condition to the sale that at least part of the lot must be used for parking, which is limited in the area.

Borough manager Kevin Steigerwalt said that two bids had been received, one in the amount of $12,000 from Tony Pieracini, who owns Pieracini’s Market, across from the property, and one from Matt Hope and Tony Prudenti, in the amount of $14,600.

Councilman Tom Cara and some residents of the area questioned Matt Hope’s involvement with the property, as he owns a collision and towing business in the borough.

“I’m surprised you’re bidding on this,” Cara said. “It’s far from your property. I hope that Matt Hope isn’t going to park junked cars up there,” he said, addressing Prudenti, who attended the meeting. Hope was not present.

Prudenti explained that was not the intention. He cited the property as being a sound, financial investment, saying that even if he and his partner maintained the minimum number of parking spaces that are currently being rented out, at a rate of $30 a month, the investment would pay for itself in four and a half years.

Robynne Cadwallader, a resident of the area, questioned whether parking abandoned or junked cars could happen down the road.

“You own a car repair place,” she said. “This lot is not close enough to the downtown for parking,” she said.

Although Cadwallader said that a parking lot, especially one that is maintained and cleared in the winter, would be a welcome addition to the area, she worried that if enough spaces were not rented, it could be used for other purposes.

Prudenti reiterated several times that this is not the plan for the property and that spaces would be available for area residents to rent.

Pieracini also attended the meeting and questioned whether the property would receive the benefits of CRIZ funding and could possibly not pay back the dividends that are expected from a CRIZ project, which include job creation and sales tax generation.

After the meeting, Pieracini said that he and his family had tried to obtain the lot for years, and that the additional parking for their business could have potentially increased their business, which in turn would have increased the number of employees they would need and the amount of tax they returned to the borough.

Prudenti did indicate that they would consider renting spaces to Pieracini, but Pieracini responded that he was “not interested.”