ZELIENOPLE — The borough will not accept a grant for the Main Street Revitalization Project that it has been approved for.

Borough council voted Monday night to not accept a $33,500 state grant after discovering that accepting it would require designating properties bordering the project as blighted.

This involves the creation of a municipal parking lot for phase one of the revitalization.

Borough manager Don Pepe said the borough received criticism in the past from the public after surveying for blight designation.

Pepe said the public “misconstrued” what was meant by having a blight designation.

“It’s where certain aspects (of a property) need repair,” Pepe said. “It’s purely nomenclature.”

Such aspects include items such as low-hanging gutters or old paint.

Pepe said he did not recommend the borough accept the grant and pay $4,000 to survey and designate properties.

“It just doesn’t make sense to go through the hassle,” he said.

However, the borough will research whether it can use the money for other purposes.

“We don’t want to give it back,” Pepe said.

For the past two years, the borough has been approved for grants for phase one of the Main Street work.

Grants include a $3 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant, a $1.5 million Multimodal Transportation Grant and a $480,000 Transportation Alternatives Program grant.

The borough will attempt to get more grants for phase two of the revitalization project, which will make infrastructure improvements along Main Street.

The third phase of the revitalization is the reopening of the Kaufman House, scheduled for 2017.