Politics & Government

Judge to Rule on Catholic Shop Sign

A civil action hearing was held in Willow Grove district court Tuesday afternoon.

Does Upper Moreland Township own the wall between Avis and Veterans Memorial Park on York Road and were township officials justified in fighting St. Jude Stores' erection of a sign there?

That's the crux of what Willow Grove District Judge Jay Friedenberg will decide following a nearly two-hour, oftentimes heated, civil hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

Township officials argue that "The Catholic Shop of Willow Grove" sign is on their property–a party wall at 133 York Road which separates Avis from the park–and that store owner Russ Davis was not permitted to place it there. 

Rather, a township sign permit issued in October allowed Davis to put signage on his business, at 125 York Road, officials said in court Tuesday.

"We have an ownership interest in that party wall," Upper Moreland attorney Kate Harper said. "That side of the party wall belongs to us."

But, Joseph Hamill Jr., a licensed land surveyor since 1987 who has done 3,000 land surveys, said the wall in question is actually owned by Three Stars Associates, the company that owns the retail space along York Road where St. Jude, Avis and Baranette's Bridal are located. 

The property line stretches "eight inches to the north of the wall where the sign is," Hamill testified Tuesday. 

Friedenberg did not make a decision on Tuesday.

St. Jude Stores President Russ Davis said that despite having a sign on the front and back of his retail storefront, customers were calling him and saying they were unable to find the store, which he had relocated 
from another plaza in Willow Grove last year.

"There's trees in the front that block the sign," Davis said, adding that the rear signage is not visible until would-be customers are parking in the lot. 

Davis applied for and received a permit to install a sign. Township officials contend that the sign was to be erected at 125 York Road, while Davis and his attorney said that renderings submitted with the permit application make it clear that the side of the wall adjacent to Veterans Memorial Park was always the intended locale. 

Township officials and Davis have been at odds over the sign since it was installed in December. 

Paul Purtell, the township's director of code enforcement and zoning officer, testified that he sent letters to Davis in December and February requesting that he either remove the sign, or submit an application to the zoning hearing board to determine if it could legally remain. 

Davis, according to both sides, did neither.

Caroline Achey Edwards, Davis' attorney, argued that the letters sent to her client did "not have any sanctions" for failure to comply.

"There's nothing in there that told my client what the ramifications would be," Achey Edwards argued, requesting that the matter be thrown out.

Unless or until Friedenberg grants a judgement in favor of the township, Upper Moreland can not levy fines against Davis, according to Harper, who read portions of a township ordinance during the hearing. 

The ordinance calls for $500 per day fines for each day a violation occurs after the first five days of a judge's decision, according to Harper. 

"We're at zero today," Harper said. "We actually want the sign to come down." 


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