A failed condemnation of two properties in the 500 block of Lackawanna Avenue could end up costing the Scranton Redevelopment Authority $277,000 in legal fees for attorneys on both sides of the dispute, according to public records from the agency and a court.
The case stemmed from 2006, when the SRA moved to condemn and take the properties of Mario and Giuseppina Piccolino, owners of Buona Pizza at 504 Lackawanna Ave., and Stanley and Susan Stadolny, owners of 506 Lackawanna Ave., for a project known as the "Renaissance at 500" in the 500 block of Lackawanna Avenue.
The SRA argued the properties were blighted, but in fighting the condemnation, the property owners argued the SRA had failed to follow state law on condemnation procedures and lacked the power to condemn the two properties. The redevelopment plan had listed the lots as "not to be acquired" and the SRA failed to amend the plan in a timely manner to include the lots, the owners contended.
In a January 2011 ruling, Lackawanna County Judge Robert Mazzoni agreed with the property owners that the SRA lacked the power to condemn the lots and arbitrarily tried to condemn them. The SRA then appealed to Commonwealth Court, which in a February 2012 ruling upheld Judge Mazzoni's decision.
In March, the SRA voted against appealing the case. The case was effectively closed, but the fight did not end there. The attorney for the owners of the buildings, Boyd Hughes, filed a petition in court to have the SRA pay the outstanding $118,000 legal bills of his firm, Hughes, Nicholls and O'Hara, because their clients, the property owners, prevailed.
The clients previously paid Mr. Hughes $10,000 of a total $128,000 legal bill, and Mr. Hughes is seeking the remaining $118,000 from the SRA, according to court papers.
The SRA has objected to Mr. Hughes' request and claims he is only legally entitled to the $10,000 he has already received from his clients. The dispute over Mr. Hughes' legal bills is pending in court.
Meanwhile, SRA attorney Carl Greco has been paid by the SRA a total of about $157,000 from 2006 through August for his legal work in connection with the condemnation of the two properties, according to bills he submitted to the SRA that were obtained by The Times-Tribune through a Right to Know request for public records.
Mr. Greco also submitted bills in September totaling $1,844 that had not been paid at the time of the Right to Know request. It also was not clear when or if a bill submitted in January 2009 for $997.50 had been paid, as it had not later been delineated as a "previous payment" as were other bills.
Adding these outstanding bills, Mr. Greco had submitted from 2006 through September legal bills and costs totaling more than $159,000.
The newspaper's request sought the total amount of legal bills of attorneys for the SRA related to the litigation of the SRA as condemnor versus the Piccolinos and Stadolnys as condemnees. In providing copies of these legal bills, the SRA redacted on each bill the description of work that Mr. Greco had performed, citing attorney/client privilege. However, the date that work was performed and amount billed were not redacted on each bill.
If a judge rules the SRA also must pay Mr. Hughes $118,000, the total of legal fees paid by SRA in connection with the condemnation would amount to about $277,000.
Mr. Hughes declined to comment. Efforts to reach Mr. Greco were unsuccessful, and SRA Chairman William Lazor said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Asked if the failed condemnation fight was worth the cost, Mayor Chris Doherty said, "Yes, because you want to change the block, you want to change the downtown. You have to push ahead. You don't quit. It would have been better if they (the two buildings) were renovated, but they weren't."
Another facet of the legal fight involved the SRA trying to disqualify Mr. Hughes from the case because he previously had been the authority's solicitor. The authority had sought reversal of a trial court ruling denying the authority's petition to disqualify Mr. Hughes from the case, but a Commonwealth Court judge in February also dismissed that request and did not disqualify Mr. Hughes.
Mr. Hughes has been solicitor for Scranton City Council during the past two years. His representation of the building owners in their fight against condemnation was unrelated to his job as council solicitor.
Efforts to reach the Piccolinos and Stadolnys were unsuccessful.
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com