Court Opinion

ID: 9712442
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:53:57.235112+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:12.236964
License: Public Domain

ROBERTS, Justice,
concurring.
In view of the finding of the court of common pleas that appellant’s decision to relocate power lines was motivated by purely aesthetic considerations and the absence of contrary evidence of record, I agree that appellee is entitled to the appointment of a board of viewers to determine just compensation. That compensation, however, should not include payment for any expenses incurred by appellee in bringing her property’s electrical system into compliance with the National Electrical Code of 1975.
The record reveals that, prior to appellant’s decision to relocate existing power lines underground as part of its redevelopment plan, appellee’s tenants did not have individual access to a means of disconnecting their electricity in the event of a fire or other emergency. According to appellee’s own witness, Frank Lewis, a Pennsylvania Electric Company meter supervisor, this condition constituted a violation of the National Electrical Code, section 230-72 (1975 edition). Supervisor Lewis further testified that if appellee had at any time desired to alter or add to her existing system, she would have been required by Oil City ordinances nos. 2119 and 2223 to bring her system into compliance with the Code.
*192It goes without saying that municipal ordinances requiring safe electrical systems are valid exercises of the police power, and that any expenses incurred in correcting a violation must be borne by the violator. Although appellant’s decision to relocate power lines precipitated the change in appellee’s electrical system which made her subject to the ordinances, the fact remains that a part of appellee’s expenses in converting her system were incurred not to satisfy the Redevelopment Authority’s desire for aesthetic improvement but rather to satisfy Oil City’s legitimate concern that appellee’s tenants be safe. Accordingly, the Board of Viewers should be directed to exclude from compensation all amounts paid by appellee to bring her electrical system into compliance with the National Electrical Code.
NIX and HUTCHINSON, JJ., join in this concurring opinion.