Apr 5, 2006 By Steve Ferris 3 min read

FARMINGTON – A group of residents is seeking an injunction to stop the Wharton Township supervisors from constructing a cul-de-sac at the end of Marker Road. Allyson V. Pallay and Bart F. Bigham of Marker Road and residents Jason W. and Garret S. Ashman filed a petition for the injunction Monday in Fayette County Common Pleas Court.

The supervisors authorized solicitor Denise Simon to respond to the suit following an executive session held during the board of supervisors’ meeting Monday night.

Jim Means, chairman of the supervisors, said the response will be in support of proceeding with the cul-de-sac project.

In the petition for the injunction, attorney David F. Toal of Pittsburgh said his clients, Pallay and the other plaintiffs, own property beyond the terminus of Marker Road.

They filed a trespass complaint in 2003 against four residents to stop them from them from traveling through that property to access their homes and properties, Toal said in the petition.

The four residents filed a counter suit alleging that the property in question was part of Marker Road and their properties would be landlocked unless they could enter and exit using the property, Toal said.

The matter went to trial in January and Judge John F. Wagner Jr. ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.

Wagner’s order bars the four residents from the plaintiffs’ land and says Marker Road does not extend into the plaintiffs’ property, and their property is not part of a public roadway.

The decision was appealed to Superior Court, which upheld the ruling.

At a March 21 supervisors’ meeting, a petition signed by at least 24 residents was presented to the board. It said the property in question is necessary for access for emergency services and to enter and exit other residential properties, Toal said.

The residents’ petition asks the supervisors to extend Marker Road by two-tenths of a mile.

Toal argued that the petition was an attempt to convince the supervisors to condemn the property in order to build a turn around.

He said there is enough room at the end of Marker Road to construct a turn around without condemning the plaintiff’s property.

The supervisors agreed to have the property surveyed and resident Philip Holt agreed to pay for it at the March 21 meeting.

The plaintiffs are requesting a permanent injunction barring the township from entering the property and performing a survey.

Toal argued that, during the trial, it was not disputed that the residents have other ways to enter and exit their properties, and the township can’t use eminent domain to obtain the property in question because it would not serve public interest or benefit the public.