Body Shop Move Enforced by Judge for PA Route 29 Expansion In a legal battle that involved a body shop owner, his former attorney, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the expansion of Route 28, a judge recently ruled that William Lieberth Sr., 56, owner of an auto repair shop on Route 28, must agree to a PennDOT settlement, pay his former attorney and vacate his North Side business by Oct. 1. Lieberth said he plans to appeal. In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he said he is prepared to die for his building. After the order was issued, Leiberth said he planned to continue to fight for his building and that he would consider it an honor to die for it. He did not elaborate on what that meant but said, “I’m pure German descent. We know how to fight. I am fully prepared, if I have to.” PennDOT, which acquired the land through eminent domain, has said the ongoing Route 28 work requires demolition of Lieberth’s building and the adjacent parking lot. Lieberth ignored a letter he received from PennDOT in July telling him he must vacate his building by Aug. 6. Lieberth has owned and oper-
ated Allegheny Auto Body since 1976. He said he ignored the vacate notice because he had nowhere to move his business.
William Lieberth will have to move his shop to make way for a road project
The Allegheny County Common Pleas Court order, written by Judge Michael E. McCarthy, enforces a settlement that representatives for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Harvey Robins, a former attorney for Lieberth, said they agreed to in early August. “There can be little real controversy in this matter that an enforceable agreement was reached and must be honored,” Judge McCarthy wrote. Lieberth owns the last business located along the north side of the
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Route 28 expansion construction area and refused to leave after receiving an order to vacate the property on East Ohio Street. He insisted that he never agreed to a $245,000 settlement with PennDOT to give up his business for the widening project. Allegheny Auto Body sits just 10 feet from the road. Lieberth fired his attorney Aug. 22, saying he did not agree to the $245,000 settlement with 30% due to the attorney and a move-out date of Oct. 1. Lieberth also said he should not have to pay his attorney. “I didn’t authorize him to accept this offer,” Lieberth said. “I did not sign this agreement.” According to Lieberth’s former attorney, his client agreed to a $245,000 payment plus $3,500 in interest. In addition, he was able to extend the date Lieberth must vacate the property from the end of July to Oct. 1. “He said, ‘Well, that’s a good number. Do the best you can,’” Robins told the court, prompting a shout from Lieberth in the gallery, saying, “That’s not true.” Lieberth was admonished by
Judge McCarthy who ordered him to wait his turn. “That’s why I fired him Aug. 22. They tried to get me to sign it. I said I’m not going to sign it. I just told you in court; now it’s recorded. I didn’t authorize him to put the $245,000 on the price,” Leiberth said. Lieberth had previously stated that given the percentage of attorney’s fees and no guarantee he can relocate close by, he didn’t think $245,000 was quite enough and doesn’t equal the shop’s value. “The whole gross amount, including moving fees and possibly attorney fees, I can gross here in two years,” Lieberth said. “They aren’t doing me any favors.” A company he hired to do an appraisal set the land value at $285,000. The Allegheny County Board of Viewers set it at $215,000. The shop owner’s former attorney told the court the two sides met close to the middle. “I don’t know what else I could do for the client,” Robins said. Lieberth’s main concern is that he has no place to move his business. “I
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26 OCTOBER 2012 AUTOBODY NEWS | www.autobodynews.com
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