Riehl v. Millcreek Township Sewer Authority

441 A.2d 466, 64 Pa. Commw. 513, 1982 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1058
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 11, 1982
DocketAppeals, No. 1524 C.D. 1980 and No. 1525 C.D. 1980
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 441 A.2d 466 (Riehl v. Millcreek Township Sewer Authority) 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
Riehl v. Millcreek Township Sewer Authority, 441 A.2d 466, 64 Pa. Commw. 513, 1982 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1058 (Pa. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge MacPhail,

Mr. & Mrs. Riehl and Mr. & Mrs. Seip (collectively Appellants) are adjoining property owners in Mill-creek Township (Township). The Millcreek Township Sewer Authority (Authority) has constructed sewer lines in the Township and has assessed Appellants’ lots for the cost thereof on a front foot basis. Appellants refused to pay the assessments whereupon Authority filed municipal claims. A scire facias issued on the claims pursuant to which appropriate pleadings were filed followed by a non-jury trial wherein all municipal claims against Appellants were consolidated. At the conclusion of that trial an order was entered by the trial judge finding the sewer assessments and computations valid.1 This appeal followed.2

Prior to trial, the parties entered into a stipulation of facts. From that stipulation and the evidence adduced at the trial it appears that the factual background of the case is as follows. Appellants Riehl own 2 lots of ground numbered 022 and 018 on the Township Property Map. The 2 lots contain 8 acres in the aggregate. The Riehl lots are bounded on the north by Wolf Road (a public road), and on the south by Watson Road (a private road). Other lots to the east of Riehl are similarly bounded on the north and south. Lot 018 is contiguous to and east of lot 022. A private road, 50 feet in width, runs north and south on the west side of lot 022. That private , road separates the Riehl property from the Seip property. The Riehls have constructed a single family dwelling on lot 018 .using, a septic tank system for sewage disposal.

Appellants Seip also own two tracts of ground. Lot 035 contains 6.93 acres. It is bounded on the north by Wolf Road, on the east by the private road separating [516]*516it from Riehls ’ lot 022 and on the south by other land, including Seips’ second parcel which contains 4.68 acres. The second parcel does not appear to be involved in the instant dispute. Seips have a single family dwelling on lot 035 and use a septic system for sewage disposal.

When Appellants first purchased their respective tracts of real estate they were restricted by deed covenants to one single family dwelling on each lot. In 1963, however, all interested parties entered into an agreement whereby those restrictive covenants were modified to provide that Seip could subdivide lot 035 into three parcels and Riehl could subdivide each of his lots into two parcels. Nothing is said in the agreement about how the tracts are to be subdivided. Appellants have not subdivided their land and profess to have no intention of doing so.

The Authority constructed a new sewer line in Wolf Road, in Watson Road and in the private road separating the Riehl and Seip properties. Pursuant to Authority Resolution No. 542 (Resolution) assessments were made against each property on a front foot basis taking into account, after adjustments, the distance which each property fronted on each of the three streets.

Appellants do not dispute that their properties were benefited by the sewer lines in Wolf Road. Seips are not affected by nor assessed for the sewer line in Watson Road. Riehls do not deny that their property was benefited by the sewer line in Watson Road. Appellants jointly deny that their properties are benefited by the sewer line in the private road separating their properties. Almost all of the evidence received at the non-jury trial was directed to that, single issue. The trial court found that both properties were benefited by the sewer line in that private road.

[517]*517Seetion 4B(s) of the Municipality Authorities Act of 1945 (Act), Act of May 2, 1945, P.L. 382, as amended, 53 P.S. §306B(s) provides that a municipal authority may charge the cost of constructing a new sewer line against the properties “benefited, improved or accommodated thereby.” It makes no difference for assessment purposes whether the sewer line is laid in a public or private road, Highland Sewer and Water Authority v. Engelbach, 208 Pa. Superior Ct. 1, 220 A.2d 390 (1966).

The principles of law applicable to the facts of this case are articulated in Palmer Township Municipal Sewer Authority v. Witty, 479 Pa. 240, 388 A.2d 306 (1978). Our Supreme Court held in that case that an assessment must always be related to the benefits conferred upon the property owner and while there is a presumption that a property abutting a new sewer line is benefited by it, that presumption is rebuttable. Where the evidence in the case compels a conclusion that an abutting property is not benefited, then the assessment cannot stand. In Witty the subject property abutted two streets where a sewer line has been constructed. The trial court found an assessment computed on the frontage of both streets improper because the dwelling situated on the property was connected to the sewer on the one street and a zoning ordinance prohibited the construction of another residence on the same property. Our court reversed, finding the situation similar to that presented in Upper Gwynedd Township Authority v. Caltabiano, 206 Pa. Superior Ct. 476, 214 A.2d 288 (1965). Our Supreme Court reversed both Caltahiano and our decision in Palmer Township Municipal Sewer Authority v. Witty, 26 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 117, 362 A.2d 1106 (1976), holding that the trial court had decided the case correctly based upon the evidence before it. We infer from that decision of the Supreme Court that the issue of whether property [518]*518has been benefited is an issue of fact to be determined by the trier of fact and if the court’s finding is supported by competent substantial evidence in the record, it should not be disturbed.

In the instant case the trial court found that the subject properties were benefited. Although there was a definite conflict in the evidence, the trial court found that the fact that Appellants have the present right to subdivide their land was sufficient to establish that both properties were benefited by the sewer line wherever streets in which the sewer line was constructed abutted those properties. The court concluded that Appellants simply had not met their burden of overcoming the factual presumption that their properties were benefited. In its opinion, the trial court stressed the importance of the size of the properties in this ease as opposed to the situation where a single building lot might be involved. Our review of the evidence indicates that there can be no question that either or both properties could be subdivided in such a manner that residences would front on the private road. In addition, Seip admitted that it will be less expensive for him to connect his present residence to the sewer line in the private drive than it would be to connect on Wolf Road. Finally, a real estate appraiser familiar with real estate values in the area testified that in his opinion both properties were benefited by all of the sewer lines upon which the properties abutted.

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Related

City of Philadelphia v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
676 A.2d 1298 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Seip v. Millcreek Township Supervisors
544 A.2d 1091 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Upper Gwynedd Township Authority v. Roth
536 A.2d 875 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
441 A.2d 466, 64 Pa. Commw. 513, 1982 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1058, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riehl-v-millcreek-township-sewer-authority-pacommwct-1982.