CARBONDALE, Pa. — Tony Talerico owns a piece of property in Carbondale on Enterprise Drive. Years ago he found out that he also owns part of the road, which leads to an industrial park, and gets a lot of traffic.
It's been the source of a fight with the city for well over a decade.
"It's a battle that I don't think anybody's gonna win," said Talerico.
Talerico owns it, but he wants to sell it to the city because it's a liability and needs fixing.
The city had been leasing it from him for years and as part of the agreement, the city was supposed to maintain the road.
Talerico says they haven't and it's driven away business.
"It's always been a nightmare, a mess, mud, just really bad. I had a bakery in [one of the buildings], they had to leave. I can't get anyone to rent that property, and I wouldn't want them to rent that property the way it is now because it's just a mess," he said.
Carbondale Mayor Justin Taylor says this battle all just boils down to money; the two sides haven't been able to reach a fair deal.
"Ultimately, it's either you write a check amicably, or you write a check under duress. So that's what it comes down to, and I think the city's position is, at this point, that we don't want to write a check at all," Mayor Taylor said.
The mayor says the city has been trying to improve the intersection for 15 years.
"The road deteriorated over time because it had never been improved to the standard of a road, just constant temporary patching because we had plans to ultimately do it all over," said the mayor.
Mayor Taylor also says the city didn't want to improve a road it doesn't own because that would have increased its value and made it a more expensive purchase.
"We created value by leasing that property. It showed income, and that ultimately hurt us," he explained. "It gave justification for the landowners' [price]."
The lease agreement ends on Sunday; that's when Talerico says he's going to shut down access to his part of the road.
He says he didn't want it to come to that.
"There's not another option," Talerico said. "I have the liability on the property. I can't continue to let them travel on it if they don't have insurance."
Talerico says he plans to put up a barrier on Sunday.
The mayor is asking drivers to use caution, especially at night, as the road is not very well-lit.
For drivers who have to get to the industrial park, including truckers making deliveries, they'll have to take about a three-mile detour through Simpson.
"I mean, you're gonna see tractor-trailers, unfortunately, in residential neighborhoods, lost and trying to turn around," said Taylor.
The mayor says the response from residents so far has been one of confusion.
But once the road actually closes, he expects that response to turn into anger and frustration.
"We anticipate major traffic issues at this point, so the police are aware, fire department and emergency services are aware. We don't anticipate it to get any better, any time soon."
The city is planning to essentially redesign the road so that it goes around the small portion that Talerico owns, rather than buying or leasing it from him.
The mayor does not have a timeline for when that will happen.