Pottsville’s code enforcement office this week condemned a downtown building owned and occupied by The Community Mission, David J. Petravich, city building code officer, said Friday.
On March 16, Petravich served the owners, Robert J. Alonge and his wife, Renata L., Pottsville, with a notice of violation that stated the structure was “unfit for human occupancy.” On Wednesday, Petravich taped a red notice on the front window. It states: “Condemned as dangerous and unsafe.”
Robert Alonge said Friday he’s challenging the city’s claims and has filed a complaint with the Human Relations Commission in Harrisburg.
“These code violations, we contend, are unfair, misapplied and discriminatory,” Robert Alonge said Friday.
On Jan. 29, Robert and Renata Alonge bought the property at 2-4 N. Centre St. from Mike Ghannoum, Pottsville, for $155,000, according to the online Schuylkill Parcel Locator.
Since then, the property’s address has become simply 2 N. Centre St., Petravich said Friday.
The Community Mission has offices in Saint Clair. Earlier this year, it opened a pre-K-to-12 school for “accelerated Christian education” — The Shepherd’s Fold Christian Academy and Bible Institute — at 2880 Pottsville-Minersville Highway, Suite 110, which is part of a strip mall, Miners Plaza.
Since then, Petravich said he learned there were “up to six people” living in the property. That prompted his investigation.
“We bought the property as a single family home, that has a commercial property on the first floor, that we will eventually use as such. As for now, we are living as a family that we are. We are not a program — just a family — large as it is and complexly made up. Our other sites serve our other ministries,” Robert Alonge said Friday.
On March 16, Petravich, city Fire Chief Todd March and city Health Officer Frank Spleen inspected the property for code and zoning violations.
“Inspected the property for violations and found bathrooms without tubs or showers. We observed several bedrooms without smoke detectors, new wiring, electrical baseboard heat in place but not wired, outlets without covers, unfinished bathrooms, new plumbing, new framing, habitable spaces without wall covering or unfinished walls, dwelling units that were once office space that, in our opinion, is now dwelling units which are zoning violations,” according to a notice of violation Petravich prepared for the property owners that day.
They included the following:
• Violations of the 2009 International Property Maintenance Code, in particular sections 108.1.3, 503.2, 704.1 and 704.1.1.
• Violations of the City of Pottsville Zoning Ordinance.
Petravich insisted the property owners register all occupants 18 years of age or older with the city and said “architectural stamped drawings of changes that were made need to be reviewed and approved by this office.”
Petravich gave the property owners 10 days to respond, according to the notice.
“Mr. Petravich believes that we — my family and The Community Mission — is something that it is not, and the commercial/residential building that was bought for the purpose of housing my family and extended family — church staff — in this very large building — that was always used as a residence. The last home we lived in — the former St. Pat’s Convent — had over 25 bedrooms in it and, according to city laws, we could only use five of the bedrooms for non-family, which we always did. As a ministry, when someone has a need, we provide for it — and we always have to stay within the law, which we respect,” Robert Alonge said.
He continued, “In the past year, our needs also changed, as our grown children moved in with us. We sought a property that would house us all, which we thought we did with the 2-4 N. Centre St. property. It fits our current needs and future needs of opening up a store to sell arts/crafts and allow other churches and vendors to act as independent contractors, basically a co-op. Because of these delays caused by the city, this plan has been halted. The commercial space is also planning on being used for church meetings, etcetera, as we see fit. Because our church in Saint Clair cannot house our family, we are utilizing the property as our parsonage, since the pastors and other staff already live in the building.
“We have been working on the repairs that we have been asked to do, despite the fact that they are unreasonable and misapplied to us as a family unit. The code that we have been asked to comply with is not for residential dwellings but for commercial only buildings, like apartment buildings, hotels, rooming houses, etcetera. We have been asked to put in a sprinkler system for crying out loud and to get a stamped architectural blueprint in order to be in compliance with code. We are actually doing this, but finding the right person takes time and money we don’t have. What other person who bought a residential home in Pottsville has been asked this? This is our civil rights complaint that we will pursue.
“We have also retained an attorney with expertise in this area to represent us and will stand for our constitutional rights, no matter the cost. We also have three contractors waiting to start future repairs to our property, once this is resolved. Anyone interested in helping our cause is free to contact me.”