Joyce Outdoor Advertising Wallscapes, LLC v. City of Scranton, 3:24-cv-00791

Joyce Outdoor Advertising Wallscapes, LLC (“Joyce”) leased and installed advertising billboards on a warehouse in Scranton, Pennsylvania, under a recorded long-term lease.
The City of Scranton discovered the warehouse in allegedly dangerous condition and issued a demolition order to the property owner, later recording the demolition notice.
Joyce was not directly notified of the demolition order, nor afforded a hearing to challenge it, despite its recorded leasehold and business interests.
Joyce sought court intervention, secured an initial injunction, and attempted negotiations to delay demolition while planning to purchase and rehabilitate the property; its requests were denied by the City and Mayor.
Scranton ultimately demolished the warehouse and destroyed Joyce’s billboards; Joyce claims significant lost income from the destruction and alleges wrongful deprivation of rights, leading to this Section 1983 and state-law action.
Defendants move to dismiss selected federal and state law claims under Rule 12(b)(6); the court grants part of the motion (on narrow grounds) and denies part.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Fifth Amendment Taking	City’s actions amounted to an uncompensated taking of leasehold/billboards	Demolition was a valid police power for public welfare, not a compensable taking	Denied: Plaintiff plausibly alleged a taking
14th Amendment Procedural Due Process	Leaseholder denied notice and a hearing; city policy excluded leaseholders from appeal	Plaintiff had, or used, alternative judicial process so due process met	Denied: Plaintiff’s claim sufficiently pled
14th Amendment Substantive Due Process	Conduct was egregious and targeted, depriving Joyce of protected property interest	Actions did not "shock the conscience"	Denied: Conduct plausibly "shocks the conscience"
14th Amendment Equal Protection	City treated Joyce differently than similarly situated leaseholders/property owners	Plaintiff didn’t identify truly similar comparators or intentional treatment	Denied: Sufficient facts pled
Tortious Interference & Conversion	Mayor personally liable under state law for interfering with Joyce’s rights	Mayor immune as a high public official acting in her official capacity	Granted: Dismissed (leave to amend granted)

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (pleading standard for plausibility in civil rights claims)
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (articulating the plausibility standard for motions to dismiss)
Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562 (class-of-one equal protection claims)
City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr., 473 U.S. 432 (establishing standard for equal protection analysis)
Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564 (source and definition of property interests under due process)