Pittsburgh Mills citations appealed, headed to court in September

Frazer will be waiting a bit longer to see if it gets any of the $1.8 million in fines levied against the owners of the Pittsburgh Mills mall.

The Mills’ owner, Namdar Realty Group, is appealing the citations.

District Judge Michael Girardi handed down the penalties during a July 17 hearing after an attorney for Namdar entered guilty pleas to 36 citations, each valued at just over $50,000. The citations stemmed from dozens of maintenance violations.

Under Pennsylvania law, summary offenses like the citations against Namdar can be appealed even if a guilty plea was entered.

The original hearing addressed 259 of 400 citations Frazer filed against Namdar.

According to court dockets, each citation was filed multiple times — against each of the limited liability companies that Namdar operates under at the Mills.

Girardi’s office confirmed Tuesday the 36 cases that Namdar previously pleaded guilty to were appealed. The appeal will be heard in Alle­gheny County Court of Common Pleas. The citations dealt heavily with overgrown grass and parking lot potholes.

Neither James Berent, the attorney representing Namdar’s LLCs, nor Frazer officials responded to TribLive requests for comment Tuesday.

Without an appeal, the fines would have been due to the court Monday and subsequently disbursed, with the majority of the funds going to the township and a small portion to the court.

According to court documents, the appeal hearing is scheduled for Sept. 23 in Judge Thomas Flaherty’s courtroom.

Namdar faces another hearing Thursday before Girardi for the remaining 364 citations, which were filed because of the state of the property’s sidewalks and road conditions as well as structural issues and rodents in the mall building.