Grant Becker had just left work at the Pittsburgh Mills shopping complex in Frazer when he heard a giant crunch.

Becker’s car hit a pothole on Pittsburgh Mills Boulevard that he said was more like the size of a crater.

“It was humongous,” said Becker of Springdale Township. “It had rained and the hole was full of water. It wrecked my rim and ruined my tire.

“People are always swerving to miss the potholes. Someone’s gonna end up getting hurt.”

It’s a familiar concern, according to Frazer Supervisor Lori Ziencik.

“We get constant complaints,” Ziencik said. “Calls come in every day, but that’s private property. We take care of our township roads.”

Mall owner Namdar Realty Group owns the roads in and around the mall. It is responsible for paving and repairs.

Ziencik said the township supervisors have reached out several times to ask about road maintenance.

“They hired someone to patch a few of the potholes, but it’s just a Band-Aid,” Ziencik said.

The board is urging Namdar to address what it called a public safety situation. It has directed township Solicitor Alyssa Golfieri to determine whether the mall owners can be held accountable.

Emails sent to Namdar representative Emrah Sungu in Great Neck, N.Y., were not immediately returned. The mall’s public relations spokesman, Michael Czerepka, also did not answer requests for comment.

In recent weeks, frustrated drivers have flooded state Rep. Mandy Steele’s office with calls for help.

The legislator said her staff has been fielding complaints from drivers who say potholes appear to be multiplying and continuing to deteriorate.

Becker said the one his car hit was longer than a 3-foot ice scraper.

“When I called AAA, the guy was already at Lowe’s changing someone else’s tire from a pothole,” Becker said.

Jess Baker, district office director for Steele, said the office gets a large amount of calls and emails “because there aren’t even appropriate line markings up there.”

“Unfortunately, the state and the county can’t touch them because it’s private property,” she said.

Ziencik argues that explanation is insufficient because of how many hundreds of vehicles travel the mall roads each week.

“I’m told it doesn’t fall under the parameters of the property maintenance code, but it impacts the community,” she said. “We’re between a rock and a hard place.”

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