Neighbors want former Ranch House in Upper Nazareth Township demolished

FROM ROSS NUNAMAKER

Neighbors say they’re tired of waiting for the owner of the former Ranch House Bar & Grill in Upper Nazareth Township to improve it.

Bruno Scipioni bought the property at East Lawn and Schoeneck roads in July 2004 with the intention of demolishing it and putting in an Italian restaurant and four apartments. It’s stood boarded up for seven years.

"Somebody needs to say, 'Hey, knock it down,'" said Thomas Manzo, who lives next door to the site at 403 East Lawn Ave. “We don’t have to look at this building every day.”

Scipioni received permits and approval for the restaurant, apartments and an expanded parking lot. He said he is working with banks to get the project moving, but it’s been delayed due to a tough economic climate. He said he has worked to clean up the site, mowing the lawn each week and boarding up graffiti.

"I’m moving forward. I know it's at a snail's pace," Scipioni said. "But it's moving forward."

During last winter’s heavy storms, neighbor Manzo said, parts of the building came undone and wood panels flew onto his lawn. Manzo said he nailed the siding back onto the building.

"If I didn’t stop it, it was going to keep going," he said.

"A lot of people live in Nazareth because it’s nice and historic and then you have something like that," said Chris Hann, who lives four homes away from the property. She fears the building will lower her property value.

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Barry Kates and Maggie Messina, other Schoeneck Avenue residents, called the property an “eyesore.”
Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Scott Sylvainus said the property poses no health threats.

"He's been very cooperative whenever any issue has been there," Sylvainus said of Scipioni. “Any concerns we’ve had, he’s addressed.”

Sylvainus said residents should take any concerns about the property to the board of supervisors. The matter will be discussed at Wednesday's supervisors meeting.

Manzo claims he's seen cats climb through an open space in a boarded-up window. The cats attack fish in one residents’ pond and took up residence under Hann’s deck, residents said.

Scipioni said he hired a pest control officer to tour the building and set up traps for rodents. He hasn't seen any cats, he said.

"I keep it clean,” Scipioni said. "As soon as I get a chance, I’ll do something with the property. I’m not just letting it go."

Sylvainus said no resident has approached the township with complaints over cats.

Scipioni owns Bruno Scipioni's Italian Ristorante & Pizzeria in Bethlehem Township.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2011/09/neighbors_want_rundown_buildin.html