11 Pa. Commw. 593 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1974
Opinion by
The singular issue presented by this appeal is whether a board of viewers has jurisdiction to hear and determine a claim for business dislocation damages asserted under Section 601A(b) (3) of the Pennsylvania. Eminent Domain Code of 1964.
Pursuant to Commonwealth Court Rule 89, the parties hereto have stipulated to the factual and procedural posture of the case. On March 31, 1971, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Condemnor) filed a declaration of taking condemning in its entirety property owned by Mobil Oil Corporation (Condemnee) which had been leased to George L. Zozos (Zozos). Possession of the property was delivered to the condemnor on December 30, 1971, and, upon petition of the condemnee, a Board of Viewers was appointed to ascertain damages. The Board of Viewers (Board) filed its report on March 13,1972, awarding condemnee $142,000 for the loss of its real estate and $5,000 business dislocation damages. Condemnor appealed this award, but thereafter settled the real estate damages claim for $140,000. The parties stipulated that the unsettled claim for business dislocation damages would be tried before the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County without a jury.
Subsequent to the filing of this appeal, condemnee obtained an assignment of any claim for business dislocation damages from Zozos. On September 28, 1972,
The Board of Viewers filed its report on March 19, 1973, and denied both parties all relief and held that it was without jurisdiction to determine the claim for business dislocation damages. The Board apparently believed that Section 601A(b) (3) of the Eminent Domain Code, as implemented by Section 103.4(e) of the Justice Department’s Regulations on Uniform Relocation Assistance [2 Pa. B. 733]
After initially vacating the report and remanding the claim to the Board of Viewers, Judge Silvestri of the same court entered an Order on April 9, 1972 confirming the position of the Board of Viewers. We hold that this was error and must reverse.
To our knowledge, a Board of Viewers’ jurisdiction to initially hear and determine claims for business dislocation damages has never before been challenged and in our judgment for good reason. In petitioning for appointment of viewers, a condemnee must set out “a
It is evident to us in reading these provisions that the Legislature intended to confer jurisdiction of claims for business dislocation damages on the Board of Viewers, and the addition of Section 601A(b) (3) in 1971 in no way deprives the Viewers of jurisdiction. Section 601A(b)(3) provides: “In addition to damages under clauses (1) or (2) of this subsection, damages of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) nor less than twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500), in an amount equal to either (i) forty times the actual monthly rental, in the case of a tenant, or forty times the fair monthly rental value, in the case of owner-oceu
Although not referred to in its report, the Board of Viewers apparently believed that Section 604-A,
Neither Section 604A. tbe regulations promulgated thereunder, nor Section 601A(b) (3), usurp the jurisdiction of the Board of Viewers, expressly conferred upon it by Article V of the Code, to hear and determine the instant claim for business dislocation damages.
Accordingly, we enter the following
Order
And Now, this 1st day of February, 1974, the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, dated April 9, 1973, is hereby reversed and the Court is ordered to remand to the Board of Viewers for hearing and determination the claim of Appellant Mobil Oil Corporation for business dislocation damages.
Act of June 22, 1964, P. L. 84, added by the Act of December 29, 1971, P. L. 635, 26 P.S. §601A(b) (3).
Section 103.4(e) provides: “To be eligible for payment under this sub-section, a displaced person shall make available to the acquiring agency copies of applicable Federal, State and local tax returns, and shall allow the acquiring agency to examine all applicable books and records.”
Act of June 22, 1964, P. D. 84, as amended, 26 P.S. §1-502 (a)(6).
Act of December 29, 1971, P. D. 635, 26 P.S. §1-602.
Act of June 22, 1964, P. L. 84, as added by the Act of December 29, 1971, P. L. 635, 26 P.S. §1-604A.