Pittsburgh man ruled owner of building
A Fayette County Court judge ruled Friday that a Pittsburgh businessman will be held responsible for maintaining the property that housed a Connellsville radio station, despite his arguments that he is not the owner of the site. Geoffrey P. Kelly, whose name appears on the deed of record for the 131-139 E. Crawford Ave. property, also will have to pay $2,000 in fines stemming from the guilty verdict issued by Fayette County Judge Ralph Warman.
“At this point he owns the entire building,” said Warman. “There is no other deed, so it is not sold.”
Kelly was cited last year and again in June by city code officer Rita Bornstein for failing to maintain the property, known locally as the WCVI building.
During the course of the hearing, defense attorney Jeffrey Proden produced a myriad of documents in support of his client’s contention that a Pittsburgh-based financial institution took over ownership after foreclosing on a mortgage it had on the property.
The transaction, said Proden, included other properties and assets held by several corporations in which Kelly was considered a partner.
According to the records, Kelly and Marlene Heschler, doing business as MARKEL Corp., purchased the radio station and the building in which it operated in 1985. Subsequently, Heschler sold her portion of the partnership to Kelly, who later turned it over to two other corporations.
Eventually, the bank foreclosed on the mortgage and it was placed in receivership, pending the sale of the property, according to Proden.
Kelly told Fayette County Assistant District Attorney Jack Heneks that he believed the bank’s actions gave him no rights to or responsibility for the Connellsville property.
“It was my understanding everything was gone,” he said. “I didn’t think I had anything more to do with it.”
Warman, though, said that because the property had not exchanged owners, he would consider Kelly responsible for bringing the property into compliance with city health and safety regulations.
According to Bornstein, the marquee attached to the three-story building is an immediate hazard to pedestrians, and building requires several repairs.
The city street department has erected barricades at the front of the building to protect those walking along the sidewalk.
Bornstein earlier recovered on the ground a bolt and bracket believed to have secured the sign to the building.
“We just want him to make the building safe,” Bornstein said after the hearing. “It’s not a matter of money.”
The $2,000 fine was at a rate established for commercial site owners within federal BOCA guidelines that the city follows.
The citations initially were filed with District Justice Ronald Haggerty, who issued a bench warrant for Kelly’s arrest after he failed to pay a $7,949 fine imposed during a magisterial hearing in the matter. A second hearing on a similar citation resulted in a $10,242 fine.
Kelly did not appear for either hearing, but after the bench warrant was issued, he filed an appeal to the county court.
Bornstein said she planned to work with Kelly to bring the property into compliance with the city guidelines.