Tyrone property owners, Mr. and Mrs. William Loner, have seen their appeal of $11,000 in fines denied by a Blair County Judge.
The decision came down after an appeals hearing on Monday before Judge Elizabeth Doyle, according to Tyrone code enforcement officer Tom Lang.
“The Loners will have to pay the fines during the next 36 months,” Lang told The Daily Herald.
The Loners had previously petitioned the Superior Court of Pennsylvania to hear their appeal regarding fines for violations at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue.
However, the Superior Court decided not to hear the appeal and sent the matter back to the Blair County Court of Common Pleas.
Last fall, another Blair County Judge ruled the Loners needed to repair the building or have it demolished by the beginning of December of 2003. That decision led to the Loners filing their appeal in Superior Court.
Lang commented on the problems at the property in a previous Daily Herald article. In February, he noted the problems included falling boards, a missing roof, part of the porch roof had collapsed and parts of a flu-like structure had stones missing.
Last fall, Lang had requested Tyrone Borough Police Chief Joseph Beachem to hang caution tape around the structure to try and prevent people from walking near it. But, the tape was removed and pedestrians continued to walk near the structure. The problems with the outside of the structure have recently been corrected.
The original decision compelling the owners to make repairs or demolish the building was imposed by former Judge Daniel J. Milliron on Dec. 1 according to Lang.
However, since the structure remained in disrepair, the borough was allowed to continue to fine the property owners. Lang explained an additional set of violations were noted on Jan. 1, 2004. The owners were fined another $6,000 after a hearing in early February.
Judge Doyle also issued a ruling on Monday regarding those fines.
“The fines will be forgiven and the Loners have been placed on 18 months probation,” said Lang.
The forgiveness of the $6,000 in fines is contingent on the Loners having no additional violations according to Lang. If they are found to be violation of the borough’s codes, the fines can be reinstated.
The Loners hired contractor Eric Dasher to make the repairs and a permit was issued in January of this year according to Lang. The repairs on the property were made during the last two months.
“All the exterior violations have been taken care of,” said Lang. “I’ve been working on this since the spring of 2002 and that’s a long time,” said Lang.
