Jenkintown’s attorney fails with first attempt to dismiss civil rights lawsuit but tries again The Times-Chronicle recently reported that the Borough’s attempt to have the civil rights suit against it dismissed failed — and failed rather quickly. Three days later, the Borough and its co-defendants, Deborra Sines-Pancoe, Rick Bunker, George Locke, and Sean Kilkenny updated the motion and refiled it yesterday. To update yesterday’s post about the court’s rejection of […]
Legal Issues
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The costs of Jenkintown’s political vendetta
Even in little Jenkintown, it costs big money to carry out a political vendetta by weaponizing your zoning code, especially if your victim has the nerve to fight back. Jenkintown’s ongoing political drama turned circus turned fiasco has hopefully come to a close. On July 12, the Zoning Hearing Board unanimously dismissed the notice of violation the Borough served against the Downses. I think I assumed like most in this […]
Borough Council / Legal Issues
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Jenkintown Borough leadership considered appeal of Downs ZHB decision
[Update: The Borough had 30 days to appeal, and the window has closed. Nonetheless, it is our opinion that the Borough should have shut down this this matter well before the first hearing.] Apparently a unanimous vote against them failed to convince the Borough to stand down after all. According to documents we’ve received today via a Right-to-Know request, Jenkintown Borough is or was considering an appeal of the ZHB vote […]
Legal Issues / Policy
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Bring Walnut Street parking into compliance before a lawsuit does
Jenkintown’s selective enforcement of its own laws risks expensive litigation. As most people who live in Jenkintown know, the sidewalk along the 300 and 400 block on the south side of Walnut Street exists primarily as a parking spot for the residents who live along that road. Of course, this is not actually the case. Jenkintown regulations, as they do in most cities and towns, prohibit cars from parking on […]
Legal Issues
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Jenkintown Council, property boundaries, and the dangers of assumptions
Who owns what? No one knows. That’s the question we keep coming back to in our ongoing campaign to change the sidewalk ordinance. As we have found at the outset of this campaign, the Borough, and especially Rick Bunker, Sean Kilkenny, and Michael Golden continue to believe that the current ordinance is completely justified because the homeowner also owns the land underneath the sidewalk. Borough Solicitor Sean Kilkenny, at the […]
Legal Issues
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Lock Haven provides for hardship
It’s still bad policy, but at least the City of Lock Haven makes provisions for hardship within their sidewalk maintenance ordinances. In Jenkintown Borough, it’s pay up or go to jail. Grants for sidewalk repairs are available to qualifying low income single family, owner-occupied homeowners funded the city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. Should the cost of the sidewalk repair exceed the grant amount, the homeowner may be eligible […]
Legal Issues
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Easement or Appeasement?
At Monday’s Borough Council meeting, the board respectfully listened to me read my statement, and at the end of it, I received a great deal of sympathy, but as I expected, I received no relief. I’d be a fool to think otherwise. Unfortunately, I also received some interesting misinformation. I don’t believe that anyone came out and lied to me, but I do believe that because no one has actually challenged this […]
Legal Issues
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Pennsylvania law and Jenkintown sidewalks: It’s all about the liability
I would like to thank the mayor of Jenkintown, Ed Foley, for sending me a document that pertains to this commonwealth’s policy on sidewalk repair. Make no mistake folks: This goes back decades, and it does seem to have everything to do with shifting liability from municipalities to its citizens property owners. You trip over a crack on the walkway in front of my house, I have to pay your hospital […]
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