Powley v. Commonwealth

LAVELLE, P.J.,

This case comes before us in the unusual posture of objections to the report of the board of view. It raises the always difficult and perplexing problem of whether the condemnee is entitled to the benefit of the unity-of-use doctrine.

Procedurally, the lawsuit took the following route.

On August 30, 1982, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of General Services, as part of the Lehigh Gorge Project, condemned an 11.1-acre tract of Kenneth E. Powley and Penelope Powley, his wife, in East Side Borough and Kidder Township along the Lehigh River in Carbon County.

Upon petition…