Appeals from the Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County in case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Township of Pine v. Earl P. Nudi and Ann Nudi, his wife, No. GD 82-08648.
John R. Friedlander, O'Brien and Friedlander, for appellants/appellees, Earl P. Nudi and Ann E. Nudi, his wife.
Henry W. Ewalt, Brooks and Ewalt, for appellee/appellant, Township of Pine.
Judges Craig, Colins and Palladino, sitting as a panel of three. Opinion by Judge Palladino. Judge Barry did not participate in the decision in this case.
This is a consolidated appeal from a decision of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County (trial court) dismissing the complaint of the Township of Pine (Township) which sought to enjoin Earl
P. and Ann E. Nudi (Nudis) from operating a commercial enterprise on their premises. The Township filed exceptions to the dismissal and the Nudis excepted to some of the findings of the decree. The trial court affirmed the decree and dismissed the exceptions of both parties.
The trial court made the following findings of fact. Since 1959, the Nudis, who are husband and wife, have owned 45 acres of land in the Township in an area classified as Residential, R-1 by the Township Zoning Ordinance. The structures on the property consist of a dwelling house and a separate 30' x 40' barn. The barn was constructed in 1979-80, after the Township had issued a permit for its construction in 1972. Since March of 1980, a vitamin and medicinal distribution business, owned and operated by a corporation by the name of Nutritional Specialties, Inc. (NSI) has been conducted on the premises.
NSI operates the vitamin distribution business by utilizing the barn for inventory storage. The barn also houses an office which operates as the headquarters for the business. Approximately once or twice a month large 14 wheel trucks deliver large quantities of vitamins to the barn from Seroyal Corporation, a California manufacturer. NSI receives orders from physicians, hospitals and pharmacies which are filled by repackaging the large quantities into small boxes. The small orders are then picked up daily by United Parcel Service trucks. NSI employs one secretary on the premises. Salesmen are retained to sell the merchandise in most of the north-eastern states. NSI's gross sales exceed $400,000.00 annually.
NSI is principally controlled by Peter Nudi, who is the President of the corporation and son of the Appellant Nudis. NSI leases the barn from the Nudis
for a rental of $750.00 per month. Earl P. Nudi is the vice-president of NSI, but is not a director or shareholder of NSI. He is also employed in the process of repackaging the vitamins. Ann E. Nudi is ...