LIBERTY — A Logan Arms Drive resident questioned what could be done about an abandoned commercial property he deemed to present a desolate view of the community.

Steven Stoyak, a resident of the township since 1994, explained during Monday’s meeting that he wrote a letter Feb. 13 to the recorded owner of a Tibbetts-Wick Road gas station that has been abandoned for “over 30 years,” asking what their plans were for it. However, he received no response.

Stoyak also believes there were underground gas tanks on the property, but Jim Rodway, the township’s zoning and code enforcement director, said they were already gone.

Stoyak said he did his research on the purchasing company, Aryan Real Estate LLC, which was considered to be the property’s owner, and said it was established in September 2020 and purchased the gas station several months later for $130,000.

“That company owns no other real estate property in Trumbull County; I have no idea what their plans are, I did not receive a response from that company,” Stoyak said.

Stoyak presented images of the property and 103 signatures from residents on a township-wide petition declaring the gas station a nuisance, an environmental risk and an eyesore that presented a negative view to travelers passing through the area.

The petition also implores trustees to use all available resources, including zoning enforcement and legal and legislative efforts.

Rodway said he spoke to the attorney on record who helped file Aryan Real Estate’s LLC — Tribby & Tribby LPA in Hubbard — whom he said does not know the business.

“We did try and go through the land bank and went through the county to try to foreclose on the property,” Rodway said. “We went to the Trumbull County building department, who cannot condemn the building.”

Rodway said the gas station’s owners purchased the land with plans to develop it, but they were “misled.”

“He was misled to believe that he could get sewer there; there’s no sewer available over there, and you can never go back and get it,” Rodway said. “So you now have a property that he bought, a project pending — they had architects call us, everything else was on the block — it’s all dead.”

As for where the owner went afterward, Rodway didn’t know, as their address is a rental property.

Rodway said they’ve had someone interested in the property, but they still can’t find the person who owns it.

Trustee Arnie Clebone believed the gas station was up to date on its property taxes, which Rodway said was because the township was in the process of foreclosing on it.

Trustee Devon Stanley explained that properties like the gas station are why he became a representative on the county’s council of governments. However, the ability to use the county for such properties was placed under review soon after he joined.