City of Philadelphia v. Urban Market Development, Inc.

48 A.3d 520, 2012 WL 2361758, 2012 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 179
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 22, 2012
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 48 A.3d 520 (City of Philadelphia v. Urban Market Development, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Philadelphia v. Urban Market Development, Inc., 48 A.3d 520, 2012 WL 2361758, 2012 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 179 (Pa. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION BY Senior Judge COLINS.

Urban Market Development, Inc. (UMD) appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (trial court) that directed the demolition of a building located at 5930 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA (Property). In February, 2010, the City of Philadelphia (City) brought an action seeking an injunction ordering repair to the Property that “presented a serious and immediate hazard to the safety, health and welfare of the public,” or in the alternative, an order authorizing the City to demolish the Property.1 (Civil Complaint, Reproduced Record (R.R.) at 6a-7a.) The action was brought against “Urban Market Development, Inc.,” and not against the title owner, “Urban Market Developers, Inc.” The complaint caption included the title owner’s proper address, and the body of the complaint properly asserted the registered office address for service, at 4687 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA. Urban Market Developers, Inc. is a Pennsylvania corporation, and Napoleon Vaughn is its President.

In its order dated November 18, 2010, the trial court set forth its findings and conclusions of law, and directed the demolition of the Property.2 (Trial Court Order, R.R. at 14a-16a.) The trial court found, inter alia, that during a hearing held on September 7, 2010, Mr. Vaughn, as President of UMD, was ordered to obtain, by the next scheduled hearing, an engineering report (Engineering Report) describing the structural condition of the Property. (Id. at ¶ 1, R.R. at 14a.) The trial court found that the Engineering Report was not produced at the subsequent hearing held on October 19, 2010, and at that hearing, Mr. Vaughn was again ordered to produce an Engineering Report no later than November 16, 2010. (Id. at ¶2, R.R. at 14a.) At the November 16, 2010 hearing, Mr. Vaughn again failed to produce the Engineering Report. (Id. at ¶ 3, R.R. at 14a.) The trial court found credible the testimony of an inspector from the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L & I) that, despite some remedial roofing work undertaken by Mr. Vaughn, the Property remained in an unsafe condition, presenting an imminent threat to the health, safety and welfare of the public. (Id. at ¶¶ 4-5, R.R. at 14a-15a.)

On December 16, 2010, Mr. Vaughn filed, pro se, a Notice of Appeal of the trial court’s order. On January 31, 2011, the trial court ordered UMD to file a State[522]*522ment of Errors Complained of on Appeal, and on February 14, 2011, Mr. Vaughn, pro se, filed his 1925(b) Statement. The City filed a motion to quash the appeal, arguing Vaughn had no standing. On June 7, 2011, this Court issued a per cu-riam order granting the City’s motion to quash and dismissing Vaughn’s appeal. On June 13, 2011, counsel entered his appearance on behalf of UMD. On June 17, 2011, Mr. Vaughn and UMD filed a Motion for Reconsideration, arguing that the appeal should be re-opened. On July 8, 2011, this Court granted the Motion for Reconsideration, and vacated the June, 7, 2011 order dismissing the appeal. On August 30, 2011, the Court, sua sponte, issued an order amending the caption to remove “Appeal of Napoleon Vaughn” from below the case name.

On appeal,3 UMD argues, first, that its procedural due process rights as title owner of the Property were violated because the City mistakenly brought its action against “Urban Market Development, Inc.,” instead of “Urban Market Developers, Inc.,” thus allegedly failing to provide proper notice. “The fundamental components of procedural due process are notice and the opportunity to be heard.” In re McGlynn, 974 A.2d 525, 531 (Pa.Cmwlth.2009). The key factor in determining whether procedural due process is denied is whether the party asserting the denial of due process suffered demonstrable prejudice. Id. at 532. Upon review of the transcripts from each of the three hearings held in this matter, and specifically the testimony of Mr. Vaughn, who participated fully at each hearing, and presented the testimony of his contractor, who

identified himself as “contractor for Urban Market Developers,”4 we cannot conclude that UMD suffered any lack of notice, or opportunity to be heard, or that it has established the type of demonstrable prejudice required to prove that its due process rights were violated.

Urban Market Developers, Inc. received notice of both the stated violations and the complaint in equity through its President, Napoleon Vaughn. The original violation notice was issued to “Urban Market Dev Inc.,” designating the Property as “unsafe” within the meaning of Title 4 of the Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupancy Code, Subcode “PM” — The Philadelphia Property Maintenance Code (Philadelphia Code), Section PM-307.0 Unfit Structures and Equipment. (L & I Violation Notice, R.R. at 10a.) The caption and body of the complaint properly identified the corporation’s registered office address for service. (Civil Complaint, R.R. at 6a.) Before the trial court, over the course of three hearings held over a three-month period, Mr. Vaughn never raised an issue of mistaken identity or lack of notice, never requested that the trial court substitute the proper party name, and vigorously defended the City’s action on its merits. Further, this Court has held, pursuant to the doctrine of idem sonans (sounding the same or alike), that so long as “misspelling is adequate to identify the person whose name is in question and does not cause a litigant prejudice, the doctrine ... will be applied to uphold the validity of [the proceeding] that contains a misspelled name.” Aldhelm, Inc. v. Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau, 879 A.2d 400, 404 (Pa.Cmwlth.), ap [523]*523peal denied, 586 Pa. 729, 890 A.2d 1060 (2005). In Aldhelm, Inc., a case involving notices of a tax delinquency and the sale of real property, the spelling of a record owner’s name as “Aldheim, Inc.” instead of “Aldhelm, Inc.” was held not to prejudice the taxpayer, a corporation that received actual notice of the sale through its president.

UMD also argues that the trial court erred in deeming the Property an “imminently dangerous structure,” and incorrectly applying Section PM-308.0 (Imminently Dangerous Structures) of the Philadelphia Code when it ordered the demolition. UMD contends that in its violation notices and code enforcement complaint, the City only alleged that the Property was in violation of Philadelphia Code Section PM-307.0 (Unsafe and Unfit Structures and Equipment), and that pursuant to Philadelphia Code Sections PM-308.1 and PM-308.2, the City was required to provide notice that the Property was in imminent danger of failure or collapse, and to specify the repair required to render the structure safe, and failed to do either.5

We find no error in the trial court’s determination. The violation notice provided to UMD by L & I specified that the floor/ceiling assembly, a wall, and the roof of the Property were all deteriorated and in danger of collapse, and clearly indicated that the structure had therefore been designated unsafe in accordance with Section PM-307 of the Philadelphia Code. (L & I Violation Notice, R.R.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
48 A.3d 520, 2012 WL 2361758, 2012 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-philadelphia-v-urban-market-development-inc-pacommwct-2012.