Bell Acres Aims to Tear Down Unsafe House

Bell Acres is working to raze blighted properties in the borough, one eyesore at a time.

At the top of the list is a home at 105 Pine Manor that the borough has already condemned and hopes to tear down by summer.

The boarded-up residence sits off Camp Meeting Road at the entrance of Pine Manor, a private roadway in .

Council began looking into a grant last year through the Allegheny County Health Department to cover the cost of demolishing the two-story home.

Council President Dennis Young said earlier this week that Bell Acres was waiting to hear word on whether the borough has been approved for the grant. Either way, the unsafe house will be torn down.

“The house is going to come down,” Young said. “It is a safety hazard.” 

The borough gave the owner, Denise Bonfilio, a year to bring the home up to code. When that didn’t happen, officials said the place was boarded up for safety reasons. Meanwhile, Bonfilio is facing numerous federal charges connected to a . She is set to go to trial in February.

Solicitor Robert Junker said a mortgage foreclosure was filed Aug. 22 on the property, which is mentioned in the federal indictment.

Young said Bell Acres expects to hear in the spring if it has been awarded the grant. If the borough receives the funds, he said, the project will be put out to bid and awarded by late spring and the property demolished by summer.

The borough’s engineer has estimated it would cost $20,000 to $30,000 to level and haul away the dilapidated home, dig out the foundation, remove the utilities, and backfill the hole.

Pine Manor neighbors Daisy Jeffries and Virginia Emmert a few months ago complained to council about the house and about a dead, overgrown tree on an adjacent property that also was abandoned. They called the tree a hazard.

While the tree likely won’t receive grant approval through the health department, the borough does recognize the problem as well as problems with a few other properties. Officials want to concentrate on the first project, but others are in the crosshairs.

Young said officials would rather wait on grant money than spend borough funds.

“I know there are some residents that are upset about it, but $20,000 to $30,000 is a lot of money,” he said.