Talisman Development Corp. v. Board of Supervisors

24 Pa. D. & C.3d 562, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 97
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Northampton County
DecidedOctober 20, 1981
Docketno. 1979-C-4185, 1979-CE-5541
StatusPublished

This text of 24 Pa. D. & C.3d 562 (Talisman Development Corp. v. Board of Supervisors) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Northampton County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Talisman Development Corp. v. Board of Supervisors, 24 Pa. D. & C.3d 562, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 97 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1981).

Opinion

FREEDBERG, J.,

This matter is before the court on two complaints which were consolidated for trial. The initial complaint was filed by Talisman Development Corporation (Talisman) against the Board of Supervisors (board) of Lower Nazareth Township (township). This complaint in assumpsit alleged that the board and its individual members were liable for monies expended and to be expended for the paving of roads in Talisman’s development. Defendants demurred to the complaint, and the demurrer was sustained as to the board members in their individual capacities. The board answered and counterclaimed for $94,502.59 — the sum allegedly representing the estimated cost of completing various subdivision improvements, including the aforementioned road work. The board also filed an action in equity to (1) compel Talisman to complete improvements, (2) enjoin Talisman from any further development or construction until the various subdivison improvements were made, and (3) enjoin Talisman from conveying any parcels within the subdivison.

These matters were tried, without a jury, before Freedberg, J., whereupon this decision is entered.

[564]*564FINDINGS OF FACT

1. In November, 1969, the board adopted a resolution whereby the township agreed to pave streets in new developments.
2. In the early part of 1972, Talisman was formed and the final plan of a proposed subdivision in Lower Nazareth Township was submitted to the board.
3. Said subdivision was known as Georgetown Manor, and consisted of 55 lots and four principal roads: Brandywine, Concord, Lexington, and King George Drive.
4. On March 1, 1972, the board rescinded its prior resolution of November, 1969, which had allowed for street paving by the township in new developments. In so doing, however, the board specifically excepted four developments, including Georgetown Manor, which were already underway. As to these four, the resolution provided that the township would pave the subdivision streets as long as such streets were readied for paving within five years of March 1, 1972.
5. The board clearly intended that the streets of Georgetown Manor would be accepted for public use.
6. On March 22, 1972, Talisman’s final plan for Georgetown Manor was approved by the board.
7. At the time this approval was granted, Talisman had neither posted security to guarantee the installation of subdivision improvements, nor had the improvements been completed by them.
8. In approximately May, 1972, Talisman commenced physical work on Georgetown Manor.
9. The paving process required an initial application of bituminous material as a binder, and a second application of bituminous material as a topping.
[565]*56510. The paving of the four subdivision roads was to be done in three stages:
1st Stage: the westerly one-third of King George Drive and the entirety of Brandywine Road;
2nd Stage: the middle one-third of King George Drive and the entirety of Concord Road;
3rd Stage: the easterly one-third of King George Drive and the entirety of Lexington Road.
11. The first stage of paving was fully completed by the township. The binder was laid in August, 1973, the topping was laid during the summer of 1979.
12. By letter dated August 23, 1973, the township solicitor notified Talisman that the township’s prior undertaking to pave subdivision roads was ultra vires and, therefore, would not be honored in the future.
13. The dedication of the roads paved in the first stage was officially accepted by Township Resolution No. 1-1974 of January 9, 1974, and confirmed by order of the Court of Common Pleas, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Criminal Division, No. 14-M January term, 1974, on January 30,1974.
14. Between July and September, 1977, Talisman placed a binder on the roads of stages two and three of the paving plan.
15. Talisman asserts that the total cost in applying this binder to the roads of stages two and three of the paving plan was $34,841.91.
16. Talisman has asked to be reimbursed for the application of binder to the roads of stages two and three in the amount of $22,254 rather than the total cost of $34,841.91.
17. The fair and reasonable cost of installing binder to the roads of stages two and three was $15,100.
[566]*56618. Talisman is not seeking damages for the cost of laying a bituminous topping to the roads of stages two and three.
19. There was no agreement between the township and Talisman with respect to the development of Georgetown Manor other than the final plan and a formal agreement which pertained to the grading of lawns on various lots.
20. The clogged state of storm sewer inlets, observed during a May, 1979, inspection, was due to the incompleted state of the paving of roads in stages two and three.
21. Roadway swales were neither depicted in the final approved plan, nor agreed to in writing by Talisman.
22. Talisman used corrugated pipe in place of concrete pipe that was designated by the final approved plan.
23. This use of corrugated rather than concrete pipe was not allowed as a substitution by the applicable PennDOT regulations.
24. The cost of replacing the corrugated pipe with concrete pipe is $4,449.60, plus 10 percent for engineering.
25. Concrete monumentation of all road curves was required by ordinance at the time of formal plan approval.
26. The cost of installing concrete monumentation at all road curves is $1,350, plus 10 percent for engineering.
27. As of April, 1979, Talisman owned none of the lots of Georgetown Manor.

DISCUSSION

I. Assumpsit Action By Talisman

The first issue presented in this case is whether [567]*567the resolution of the board on March 1, 1972, was an ultra vires act. That resolution obligated the township to pave the roads of the Georgetown Manor Development.

Initially, it must be observed that courts are ordinarily reluctant to interfere with the actions of municipal officials. The decisions of township commissioners and municipal authorities will not be disturbed without a clear abuse of their permissible discretion in acting: Goodman Appeal, 425 Pa. 23, 227 A. 2d 816 (1967). This wide reign of municipal authority power is not, however, without confines — broad discretion is allowed only within strict legal limits. While second class townships have been specifically empowered to let contracts, 53 P.S. §65801, municipal contracts beyond the scope of express statutory authority or those powers necessary to the exercise of corporate powers are void: McCormick v. Hanover Twp., 246 Pa. 169, 92 A. 195(1914).

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24 Pa. D. & C.3d 562, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 97, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/talisman-development-corp-v-board-of-supervisors-pactcomplnortha-1981.