BUTLER TWP — An ownership group that bought Deshon Woods at auction in March has told township officials that it is seeking commercial tenants for the property.

The news came at Monday night’s township commissioners meeting where, in response to a request from the group, officials said that they will not waive a rezoning fee for the property.

The decision came after the township received a letter last week from the group — Deshon Woods Development LLC — that owns the property, asking the municipality to waive a $3,200 fee to rezone the land for commercial use.

The commissioners took no action on the letter, but said they would direct township manager Ed Kirkwood to send a response letter refusing the group’s request.

“It’s the cost of doing business, right?” said Commissioner James Lokhaiser Jr. “They should understand that.”

Township zoning officer Jesse Hines said the fee is justifiable because of the cost the township incurs as part of any rezoning action. That includes a public meeting, and the municipality’s zoning map would have to be updated, Hines said.

“It’s a very costly process,” Hines said.

In March the group bought the 25 acres on Route 68 at auction for $1.205 million. Control of the property had been taken over by financial institutions after the former owner, VA Butler Partners, defaulted on its mortgage with Ameriserve Trust of Johnstown, according to court documents. The mortgage was valued at more than $8.36 million.

The township commissioners have called the property, which was clear-cut in preparation to begin work on a VA health center construction project that eventually moved to Center Township, an eyesore in its current state — something Ted Cranmer, a Penn Township resident and point person for the ownership group, agreed with in March after he entered the winning bid for the parcel.

“It (the property) was an eyesore, and we think it needed to be fixed up,” Cranmer said at the time. “That’s what we intend to do with it.”

Cranmer pledged that the group would decide within 30 days what to do with the land, and in last week’s letter to the township he said the group was “working diligently to find a suitable tenant” for the property.

Reached by phone this morning, Cranmer declined to comment on the group’s plans for the property.