Pottstown Borough has posted notices along borough-owned property near the Schuylkill River Trail alerting people living there that they have until Dec. 1 to vacate the area. The area encompasses a roughly one-mile stretch of land running between the Route 100 and Route 422 overpasses. The notice states that the land is private property of the Borough of Pottstown and is in a floodway, making it “culpable to severe flooding during extreme weather that could endanger persons and property.” Officials estimate between 25 and 30 people experiencing homelessness will be impacted. Earlier this year about six individuals were removed from PECO-owned land just beyond the Schuylkill River Trails Norristown section. Officials have attributed the area’s increasing cost of living, economic ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic, displacements resulting from Hurricane Ida, and the diminishing affordable housing stock as reasons for an uptick in homelessness in Montgomery County. Read more in The Reporter.
Source: The Reporter; 11/3/2023