A Venango County court has ordered an Oil City, Pa., scrap metal dealer to pay the city more than $20,000 in attorney's fees and also pay for the 455 days in which he failed to comply with a city zoning hearing board order.
The move is the latest development in several years worth of back-and-forth wrangling between Oil City offices and Gilbert E. Dahlstrom, who operates a scrap metal business along Upper Seneca Street. It upsets part of a ruling issued in 2004 by former District Judge William Martin.
Venango County President Judge H. William White's decision deals with Dahlstrom permitting his junkyard business to encroach beyond its defined property boundaries. By Dahlstrom allowing the scrap overflow, Oil City firefighters contend safety hazards are created when they respond to fires on the grounds. The materials also have spilled onto adjacent property operated by Kraft Concrete Products Inc.
Louis Kraft of the concrete company also has taken Dahlstrom to court.
White's ruling goes back to 2003 when Dahlstrom was issued an enforcement order to keep at least 10 feet of open space between any storage area and his lot line. He also was told to erect a proper fence around the junk compound.
In September 2004, Martin ruled that Dahlstrom was in compliance with a portion of a Venango County court order, saying the junk dealer had built adequate fencing around the property.
Rather than giving a fine for not keeping the 10-foot setback, Martin told Dahlstrom he had 30 days to bring his property into compliance or face a $250-a-day fine, according to court papers.
Oil City took Dahlstrom back to Venango County court in June 2005, where testimony and evidence were offered to bolster the city's case against Dahlstrom and his non-compliance with the 10-foot setback.
"The photographs offer overwhelming evidence, and the testimony of (then) acting Fire Chief Steve Hinds establishes unequivocally that Mr. Dahlstrom is not in compliance with the 10-foot zoning setback requirement," White said in papers delivered to city hall.
The judge also noted that Dahlstrom's fence was "not intact in several locations or at least so torn apart that it is ineffectual."
White called Hinds' testimony the "most convincing" piece of evidence from that proceeding.
"What we had not understood before his testimony was that the fires in fact do frequently occur on the Dahlstrom property, and it is essential for the Oil City fire department to promptly access the premises in order to put out the fires," White's order says. "Without the 10-foot setback ... there may be occasions when the fire department cannot even get to the fire on Dahlstrom's property."
"Under these circumstances, there is an acute safety hazard and an environmental hazard if some of the material ... is burning. ... A violation of this ordinance cannot be condoned," White continues.
Dahlstrom told the court that he tries to conform to the ordinance, but is unable to do so.
"We find Mr. Dahlstrom's testimony on this topic to be disingenuous and not credible," White said.
Dahlstrom has "complained bitterly," White said, about being forced to spend his limited assets to bring the property into compliance. He believes Dahlstrom's plight continues because he keeps accepting scrap "when clearly his property is not big enough to continue to accept junk when he is already loaded with junk to capacity."
Available fines, if imposed to their limit, would inflict "enormous damage" on Dahlstrom, but the court also said he has not made a good-faith effort to bring his property into compliance, despite enforcement devices and incentives shuffled his way.
"How can Dahlstrom, without appearing ridiculous, contend that he is trying to resolve the matter when he continues to accept junk even after there are findings that his junk accumulations are spilling beyond his property's boundaries and on to his neighbor's property? This only makes it borderline ridiculous to remind Mr. Dahlstrom that not only can he not encroach as he is and has, but he is to comply with a 10-foot setback requirement," White said.
The judge ruled that Oil City's appeal of Martin's order should be sustained because it did not impose fines for the period from 2003 to 2004 that Dahlstrom was not in compliance.
"We conclude this was error," White said of Martin's decision.
The court considered imposing $100 for each day between June 6, 2003, and Sept. 5, 2004, when Dahlstrom was not in compliance. That would have come to $45,500 alongside another $55,570 the court ordered Dahlstrom to pay Kraft Concrete.
"... We consider the amount, even though rational in the context of the ordinance, and the facts as found by this judge, excessive in the context of the other proceedings," White said.
The court cut the amount by two-thirds, but warned Dahlstrom that additional damages up to $500 per day could be imposed.
The junk dealer has 30 days to appeal, according to city zoning officer Rick Cook.
"Compliance is what we want, and if he doesn't comply, I think we have to start all over again," Cook said.
That would mean issuing Dahlstrom enforcement notices and citations and taking the case back before a district judge.
Cook said Dahlstrom has not paid the required $15,166 in damages and $500 in attorney's fees. Should Dahlstrom not heed White's judgment, the city would have to file paperwork with the Venango County sheriff's department allowing deputies to seize Dahlstrom's assets equal to the amount of the judgment, Cook said.
Dahlstrom said he plans to appeal White's ruling. He had not yet read the ruling, but said he would "definitely appeal anything they do against me."
"I'm tired of this city," Dahlstrom continued. "They want businesses in this town and they pick on the businesses that don't affect anything. They fine one when they don't like it. I bring a million dollars a year into this town. I'm tired of their harassment and I'll take them to the Supreme Court if I have to." The (Oil City, Pennsylvania) Derrick