Pittsburgh Mills owners ordered to pay $1.8M in fines over parking lot, landscape citations

After months of mounting criticism over its crumbling parking lots and overgrown landscaping, the owner of the Pittsburgh Mills has been slapped with more than $1.8 million in fines stemming from dozens of maintenance violations.

District Judge Michael Girardi handed down the penalties during a July 17 hearing after an attorney for Mills owner Namdar Realty Group pleaded guilty to 36 citations, Samantha Kaczor, a representative in Girardi’s office, said in an email to TribLive. Girardi was out of the office Wednesday and not available for comment.

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

“(Girardi) issued over $50,000 in fines on each of 36 citations, for a total of over $1.8 million,” said Frazer Township Manager Lori Ziencik. “We are very pleased with the magistrate’s decision.”

Frazer Building Inspector Bill Payne issued the citations in April and May.

“The judge heard the evidence and he was very receptive of the concerns of the township, the concerns of the residents that shop there and of the shoppers from neighboring communities,” Payne said. “He was very respectful with his deliberation.”

Namdar officials declined to comment Wednesday.

The Mills has long been criticized for widespread, deep potholes across the mall campus as well as unkempt landscaping.

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office in March confirmed it had executed a search warrant aimed at Namdar and opened a criminal investigation.

In April, the DA’s office charged Pitt Galleria LLC, a limited liability corporation that Namdar Realty operates through, with creating a public nuisance. Pitt Galleria waived its preliminary hearing in June.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, road conditions impede emergency services’ access to the property and increase response times.

Namdar faces another hearing Aug. 21 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, according to Kaczor, “rodent harborage.”

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

James Berent, the attorney representing each of the LLCs, did not respond to a TribLive request for comment Wednesday.

Each citation has its own fines and costs, Kaczor said. So each citation, even if it’s for the same charge filed against multiple LLCs, needs to be paid individually if the owners are found guilty of a violation.