Carl Bales Excavating Inc. v. Strawberry Hill Associates LP

15 Pa. D. & C.5th 29
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County
DecidedAugust 4, 2010
Docketno. 2007-C-3991
StatusPublished

This text of 15 Pa. D. & C.5th 29 (Carl Bales Excavating Inc. v. Strawberry Hill Associates LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lehigh County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carl Bales Excavating Inc. v. Strawberry Hill Associates LP, 15 Pa. D. & C.5th 29 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010).

Opinion

McGINLEY, J.,

Redles I Irrevocable Trust appealed our May 17, 2010 order denying its motion for post-trial relief. We write this opinion to explain our reasons for that order.

Redles, the counterclaim plaintiff, brought suit against Carl Bales Excavating Inc., the counterclaim defendant, for trespass for the destruction of a stand of trees on property owned by Redles. A non-jury trial was held on January 5 and 6 of 2010. On January 8, 2010, we found in favor of Redles and against Bales in the amount of $0.1 A footnote in the verdict stated:

“The proper measure of damages is ‘the decrease in fair market value of the property.’ Richards v. Sun Pipe Line Co., 431 Pa. Super. 429, 636 A.2d 1162 (1994). Counterclaim plaintiff has failed to make out the elements [31]*31which might support the measure set forth in Restatement 929. The removed trees did not affect the counterclaim plaintiff’s privacy, merely his conditional anticipation of privacy in some unspecified future.”

Redles filed a motion for post-trial relief. The parties briefed the matter, argument was heard and we denied Redles’ motion on May 17, 2010. Redles appealed that order.

Although Redles raises eight matters complained of on appeal, they all stem from whether the proper measure of damages was applied in this case.2 The issue is whether the proper measure of damages was the difference in fair market value before and after the trespass or the cost of restoration.

FACTS

Bales is engaged in the business of excavation and related ground clearing. (Stipulation, para. 1.) Redles is the owner of a parcel of approximately 17.96 acres in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. (Stipulation, para. 2.) The Redles Trust became the owner of the property in January 2007 when title to the property was conveyed to the tmst from Kenneth A. and Linda J. Redles, settlers who had owned the property since October of 1996. (Stipulation, para. 3.) In July of 2006, Strawberry Hill Associates LP, acting as the agent of Redles, contracted with Bales to install four sewer laterals on the Redles property. (Stipulation, para. 5.) Bales completed that work and the parties have stipu[32]*32lated that Strawberry Hill Associates LP is indebted to Bales for the remainder of the contract price in the amount of $6,000. (Stipulation, para. 7.)

In 2006, after request of Upper Saucon Township, Mr. and Mrs. Redles agreed to grant a 30-foot wide easement through a forested portion of their property to permit the installation of sewer lines for the benefit of a property adjoining the Redles5 property. (Stipulation, para. 8.) In consideration for such easement, the township agreed that it became contractually obligated to restore the burdened property to its prior condition, specifically to replant trees in the wooded area in kind to those removed during the work. (Stipulation, para. 11.) Carl Bales Jr., the company coordinator of Carl Bales Excavating Inc., agreed during his testimony that the right-of-way was 30 feet wide, but his company cleared an area of 40 to 55 feet in width. (N.T. 1-6-10, p. 32.)

Gerald Newnam, the nursery manager of Green Tree Nurseries, testified regarding the proposal he had drafted after the trespass to reforest the property cleared in excess of the 30 feet. He testified the property would need the following:

“40 deciduous trees, hardwood trees, various species of what we have on the nursery such as red native, red maples, native oak, native ash, native elm trees. And the cultivars to fill in the gaps of what material we do have in the nursery. We would have to use some cultivars which would be — like a red sunset is a cultivar of the native red maple.
“And your native species, I just went over, the seven to 10-inch caliper refers to the size of the trees that will be planted in that place. Park or conservation-grade, [33]*33again, giving it as much of a natural look that it originally had before the trees were cut down or were knocked down or whatever they were. Then it has a native average at $2,600 per tree times 40, the number of trees to be replaced plus the tax.” (N.T. 1-5-10, p. 26.)

The total estimate to restore the property was $135,839. (N.T. 1-5-10, p. 28.) He further testified about how the restored portion would look compared to the adjoining woods:

“Well, you can never get it back to specifically what it was. We can get it close. Once the trees establish themselves, it should start to blend in within a few years. It will probably look — if you were just glancing, passing by, maybe in ten years, you wouldn’t even know there was any damage in there at all. (N.T. 1-5-10, p. 26-27.)

Discussion

The law regarding the proper measure of damages has been set forth in Richards v. Sun Pipe Line Company, 431 Pa. Super. 429, 636 A.2d 1162 (1994). In Richards, the homeowners brought an action to recover damages for permanent injury caused to their property when a company removed and trimmed trees in order to inspect and maintain a gas pipeline running across their property. The court stated that “the measure of damages for injury to property, where the injury is deemed to be permanent, is the decrease in the fair market value of the property.” Id. at 433, 636 A.2d at 1163-64. (citations omitted) The Richards court, quoted our Supreme Court, which stated:

“[W]e have on numerous occasions decided that, when standing timber is destroyed, the damages therefor are [34]*34to be measured by determining the difference in the value of the land, upon which the trees grew, before and after the injury complained of. There may be exceptional instances, when the evidence shows the trees in question to have had a selling value separate and apart from the land (for example, trees growing on a nursery farm), where a different rule would apply; but, under the facts at bar, there can be no doubt that the proper way to determine the pecuniary damage suffered by the destruction of plaintiff’s trees was through the application of the ordinary rule just referred to ....” Id. at 433-34, 636 A.2d at 1164, quoting, Ribblett v. Cambria Steel Company, 251 Pa. 253, 259, 96 A. 649, 652 (1916). (citations omitted)

Redles, like the homeowners in the Richards case, relied on Gross v. Jackson Township, 328 Pa. Super. 226, 476 A.2d 974 (1984) and Bell v. Shetrom, 214 Pa. Super. 309, 257 A.2d 323 (1969), for the proposition that:

“We have grave doubts that damage to trees can be ascertained only by showing the before and after values of the land on which the trees were growing .... Whatever approach is most appropriate to compensate for the harm should be used, including perhaps the intrinsic value of the trees to the then existing use of the land or the cost of replacement or restoration. Even if the before and after value of the land is an appropriate measure of damages, evidence would be competent as indicative of the diminution of the value of the land.”

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Related

Sgarlat Estate v. Commonwealth
158 A.2d 541 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1960)
Gross v. Jackson Township
476 A.2d 974 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1984)
BELL v. Shetrom
257 A.2d 323 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1969)
Richards v. Sun Pipe Line Co.
636 A.2d 1162 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
Schlichtkrull v. Mellon-Pollock Oil Co.
152 A. 829 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1930)
Rabe v. Shoenberger Coal Co.
62 A. 854 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1906)
Ribblett v. Cambria Steel Co.
96 A. 649 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1916)

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Bluebook (online)
15 Pa. D. & C.5th 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carl-bales-excavating-inc-v-strawberry-hill-associates-lp-pactcompllehigh-2010.