Community Demanding Answers Over Future Of Massive Dirt Pile Dubbed 'Mount Somerton'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A neighborhood is demanding answers on "Mount Somerton." It's a huge pile of dirt at a construction site and residents say they've been left in the dark about why it's there and what will eventually be there.
The pile of dirt and the construction project are on the agenda for a community meeting Thursday night. Surrounding businesses and neighbors are not happy about having been left in the dark.
After St. Louis-based Commercial Development Corporation bought the 138-acre property on Red Lion Road last year, it's been dumping dirt. And lots of it.
Jack O'Hara, of the Bustleton Civic Association, wants to know why.
"We want to feel like they're watching our backs and it has been silent," O'Hara said.
O'Hara says he's reached out to city council members and has heard nothing. In that void of information, he believes speculation becomes rampant.
"When they do eventually get in front of an audience, the audience will be yelling instead of listening," O'Hara said.
Eyewitness News has been told by a site manager that the dirt is being used as a cap soil to level the Island Green Golf Course that used to exist on the site. In its place will be a proposed distribution center.
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Roy Sandmeyer is the CFO of Sandmeyer Steel across the street and has not been happy about the constant whir of trucks dumping dirt.
"We're OK with a distribution center just as long as the city and developers do what they can to make sure they're taking care of the businesses and people that have been here a long time," Sandmeyer said.
Eyewitness News reached out to councilman Brian O'Neill and the mayor's office for official word but did not receive a response. A representative from O'Neill's office will be at the meeting Thursday.
CBS3's Dan Koob reports.
