During last Monday’s Bensalem Council meeting, recent crime at the Saint Katharine Drexel Shrine was addressed.
Since its closing in 2017, which followed more than a century of housing the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and numerous relics, the abandoned property has been riddled with break-ins, thefts and other incidents, which were outlined by a concerned resident during the council’s June meeting.
The woman, who has been residing across the street from the property on Langstroth Lane for the past two years, explained to the council how she’s witnessed everything from vandalism to drug deals during her time there — quite the opposite of what she expected upon moving to the area.
Solicitor Joseph Pizzo, who has been in communication with director of public safety Bill McVey, revealed that steps are being taken to help reduce crime.
“The township shared with the property owner, the equitable owner, as well as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who are still the title owners of the property, those concerns,” he said. “One of the things that they are proposing will be to add on-site security at that location.”
Pizzo declined to share the specific hours that security will be present, so that potential criminals cannot plan accordingly. Until security is put in place, Bensalem Police will be patrolling the property.
He added, “Part of the discussion is to take down some of the buildings that are not of historic value and perhaps seeing what can be done with those buildings to make them less of an attractive nuisance.”
Additionally, said Pizzo, relics and other items of value are being moved off-site “so that people who may be trying to make their way into the buildings, there’s not going to be anything there for them to remove.”
Though developer Aquinas Realty Partners expressed intentions to transform the property into senior housing, with construction anticipated to begin in 2023, nothing has started.
In other news, council member Michelle Benitez called the community’s attention to two House bills that, if passed, she explained, would impact zoning decisions in the township: House Bill 1976 and House Bill 2045.
The first, sponsored by Rep. Joshua Siegel, would revise zoning laws to allow multi-family housing and mixed-use development in urban areas zoned for office, retail and parking with existing water and sewer systems.
Siegel said of his bill, “Many buildings that are zoned for office space are sitting empty or are being drastically underutilized. Most of the time, this is because this area of the municipality is zoned for office space or commercial use and businesses do not need as much office space due to teleworking. If we allow these buildings to be a multi-use dwelling, then we can free up existing underused space and make it productive. Often, these spaces already have parking, accessibility and other infrastructure that can be easily adapted for residential use.”
He added that this would help alleviate the housing crisis.
As for House Bill 2045, also sponsored by Siegel, this would revise the Municipalities Planning Code to require cities, boroughs, towns and townships with more than 5,000 in population to permit the use of duplex, triplex and fourplex housing in areas currently zoned for single-family residences only, which he said would increase the number of multi-family residential units available in Pennsylvania.
He said of this bill, “A real estate agent or a renter will tell you that housing options are limited and expensive at this time. If the number of available homes continues to stagnate, the price of those homes will continue to increase dramatically. The longer we wait to take action, the more Pennsylvanians will pay in mortgages and rent. We must take proactive steps in addressing the current housing crisis. Helping to create more affordable housing in the commonwealth will require making use of certain areas that are not currently zoned for certain multi-family dwellings.”
Benitez, a member of the Bucks County Association of Township Officials, is collaborating with other officials across the county to make their opposition to these bills known. According to her, they would effectively eliminate single family housing districts in Bensalem.
“This is a very important topic to many of us in Bucks County, and we don’t feel that the state should have oversight over local decisions and zoning matters,” said Benitez. “Therefore, we are working together to move forward and oppose House Bill 1976 and House Bill 2045. Our resolution together this evening just shows our commitment to the county, in having these conversations and moving it forward.”
She added that these bills wouldn’t ensure any availability of affordable or attainable housing.
Council president Ed Kisselback voiced his support for Benitez’s efforts: “It allows us as a municipality and other municipalities to determine their future when it comes to zoning, as opposed to the state determining it for us, so that’s what we want to avoid.”
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
