Harasty v. Borough of West Brownsville

412 A.2d 688, 50 Pa. Commw. 186, 1980 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1247
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 21, 1980
DocketAppeal, No. 927 C.D. 1979
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 412 A.2d 688 (Harasty v. Borough of West Brownsville) 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
Harasty v. Borough of West Brownsville, 412 A.2d 688, 50 Pa. Commw. 186, 1980 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1247 (Pa. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Biatt,

Charles Harasty (appellant) appeals here from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County which affirmed its decree nisi dismissing his case against the Borough of West Brownsville (Borough).

The appellant brought an equity action seeking to enjoin enforcement of the Borough’s vehicle-weight-limit ordinance, which restricts the gross weight of any vehicle operated on Borough streets to 16,000 pounds or 8 tons. He asserted that the ordinance was invalid and was being applied in a discriminatory manner against him so as to prevent the lawful use of land owned by him in the Borough. A hearing was held at which he was the only witness, and when he rested his case, after giving his testimony, the Borough then moved to dismiss, arguing that he had not proved his allegations. The trial judge granted the motion to dismiss and later issued an opinion to which the appellant took exceptions.1 An en banc court dismissed the exceptions, and this appeal followed.

In essence, the appellant is appealing from the refusal to take off a compusory nonsuit entered under Pa. R.C.P. No. 1512. And, as our Supreme Court has held,

We are therefore guided by the principles that a nonsuit should be entered only in a clear case, and, on appeal from the refusal to take off a compulsory nonsuit, the plaintiff must be given the benefit of all favorable testimony and every [189]*189reasonable inference of fact arising therefrom and all conflicts therein must be resolved in favor of plaintiff.

Schwartz v. Urban Redevelopment Authority, 411 Pa. 530, 533, 192 A.2d 371, 372 (1963). We must look, then, to the appellant’s testimony.

The appellant testified that he had leased (with an option to purchase) a parcel of land located in the Borough and along the Monongahela River. His lease was obtained in February 1978, at which time the property was crossed by two unopened and overgrown public streets, G-oodloe Street and Axton Alley. He thought that Axton Alley had been conveyed to his predecessor in interest, but he was aware that Gloodloe Street belonged to the Borough. The property had been used in the 1940’s as a sand and gravel plant, and much of the old equipment and facilities remained on it, but the plant had apparently been abandoned for some time. Being a strip-mine operator, the appellant had acquired the land for use as an operating base and for the storing of some of his heavy equipment.

On March 26,1978, the appellant was visited by the mayor of the Borough, who informed him of the Borough’s vehicle-weight-limit ordinance and warned him that Axton Alley belonged to the Borough and that he should not cut or bulldoze any of the trees located thereon. That same day, the streets around the appellant’s property were posted with signs indicating the weight restriction.

On May 20,1978, according to the appellant’s testimony, he drove a tractor-trailer carrying a high-lift loader through the Borough to his property and was cited by the chief of police for violating the ordinance about which the mayor had warned him. On June 9, 1978, a criminal complaint was filed against him by the Borough, police, charging him with criminal trespass for cutting and bulldozing trees on Axton Alley [190]*190and Goodloe Street. This charge, however, was later dropped. There were also two other allegedly unjustified incidents about which the appellant testified: one in which his nephew was cited by the Borough for driving a bulldozer onto a paved portion of Goodloe Street and damaging the street surface, after which the appellant paid a fine while insisting that the damage was minimal, and the other in which the chief of police reported the appellant to the Department of Environmental Resources (DER) for burning a fire on his property, although he said that the chief had previously given him permission. In the latter incident, however, the appellant admitted on cross-examination that the chief had given him permission only to burn tree stumps, but that he had thrown rubber tires onto the fire and “it kind of went out of control.” When he was cited by the DER for burning the tires, he pleaded guilty and paid a fine. He also introduced pictures of trucks which, he testified, were located on property approximately one-half mile from his, and which he concluded were allowed to be operated within the Borough although he estimated that each would weigh over eight tons. On cross-examination as to the weight of the trucks, however, he professed his inability even to estimate the weight of his own vehicle which he was driving when cited for violating the weight limit.

Weight restrictions on municipal streets are permitted under Section 4902(a) of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C.S. §4902(a):

(a) General rule. — The department and local authorities with respect to highways and bridges under their jurisdictions may prohibit the operation of vehicles and may impose restrictions as to the weight or size of vehicles operated upon a highway or bridge whenever the highway or bridge, by reason of deterioration or rain, snow or other climatic conditions, may [191]*191be damaged or destroyed unless the use of vehicles is prohibited or the permissible weights reduced.

The Borough’s ordinance, enacted in 1957, expressly refers to the deteriorating condition of Borough streets because of climatic conditions, and the appellant does not seriously contest the facial validity of the ordinance. He does argue, however, that its enforcement should be enjoined because (1) the Borough, prior to his acquisition of the property, had not posted its weight limitations as required by Section 4902(d) of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa. C.S. §4902(d),2 and its own ordinance, and (2) the ordinance is being enforced against him in a discriminatory manner in order to prevent the rightful use of Ms land.

As to the posting of weight restrictions, unless a municipality properly posts such restrictions prescribed by its ordinance, it may not enforce them, for to do so would be unfair to motorists, especially transients, who have no knowledge of the restrictions. However, a municipality which has been dilatory in posting such restrictions, is not forever barred from beginning to enforce them. On the contrary, we believe that, once a municipality has posted such restrictions, it may then enforce them prospectively, as the Borough has done here. As our Supreme Court has said:

‘ “The validity of the ordinance does not usually depend on a completely successful enforcement [192]*192of its provisions, nor can one who violates it be discharged, merely because it is shown that there are other violators who have not been convicted, or that those whose duty it is to perform the duties required by it have fallen short, through inattention or intentional omission or neglect.” ’

Township of Ridley v. Pronesti, 431 Pa. 34, 39, 244 A.2d 719, 721 (1968).

As to discriminatory enforcement, we do not believe that the record supports the appellant’s claims. He asserts that the Borough posted only the access roads to his property and that overweight trucks were allowed to operate on streets of the Borough one-half mile away from his land.

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Bluebook (online)
412 A.2d 688, 50 Pa. Commw. 186, 1980 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1247, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harasty-v-borough-of-west-brownsville-pacommwct-1980.