Mt. Airy horse owner issued permanent injunction

by Ed Mahon

The city has issued a permanent injunction against an East Mt. Airy resident who kept two horses and a pony on his one-acre East Phil-Ellena Street property.

The decision, handed down on July 1, comes after several hearings held in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas over a three-year period.

Some residents of the street have had complaints about Earl V. Ross since 1992, alleging that he illegally used his house for commercial purposes and later held horses on his property.

The court order said that Ross has “created a public nuisance.” The court said Ross is permitted to keep only one horse or pony on his property, and he must take proper care of it to prevent a smell. Ross is also prohibited from parking any trucks or construction vehicles on his premises. He also cannot park any trailer, trucks or commercial vehicles, other than personal automobiles, on the 600 block of East Phil-Ellena Street and the 6700 block of Anderson Street.

Deputy City Solicitor Ann Pasquariello would not comment on the case because it is being appealed.

The case will be heard on August 24, 2004, at 10:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1103 of the Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert St., to assure that Ross has complied with terms of the court’s order.

The penalty for not complying could be as much as $25,000 and incarceration. Ross has complied with only having one horse on his property, according to neighbor Nate Alston.

In November 2001, Ross filed a petition of appeal for a zoning application with the Department of Licenses and Inspection (L&I) to stable four horses and two ponies; get a variance to use the carriage house as an in-law suite; legalize a hay shed and multiple-use structures; park work vehicles in the driveway in three accessory parking spaces; get variances for a play house and a garden shed.

Some neighborhood residents claim that stabling horses diminishes from the quality of life in the neighborhood and decreases their property value.

“You couldn’t have a barbecue in your backyard, between the smell and the [horse] flies,” said neighbor Jim Foster.

When Ross would not receive tickets for his illegally parked trucks, other residents would park their trucks illegally also, said Foster, which detracted from the aesthetics of the neighborhood and also led to other people parking large trucks on the street.

Residents were trying for over 13 years to address this situation, but “over the years the city was reluctant to take action,” said Foster.

The neighbors finally appealed to the Board of the Revision of Taxes, saying that they should not be subject to a tax increase on their property since Ross’ horses were lowering the values of the homes. The board found in their favor, and ordered L&I to review and inspect the properties in question.

“This injunction is hopefully the last stop of a 12-year affair,” said Foster. ”The big question is will he comply as ordered.”

The answer appears to be yes, according to neighbor Nate Alston, who shares Foster’s dislike of the horses.

“I don’t think there should be horses,” Alston said, “It pulls the neighbor hood down.”

Although, Ross said the matter is a result of personal dispute between 2 other men, according to documents from Foster there have been residents of 13 different homes in attendance at hearings. The petition to have the horses removed was signed by 130 people, according to Foster.

As of press time, a phone message to Earl Ross from the Local was not returned.

At a hearing held in fall of 2003 the Local had a chance to speak with people on both sides of the issue. Hazel Coleman, a woman wearing a “Keep the horses in Mt. Airy” button, said that preschool children loved the horses. There needed to be a compromise, Coleman believed. Denise Alba, wearing the same button, said that she rides one of the horses to Valley Green and children come running to see them when she is riding down the street. Ross’ wife Rhonda said that she and her husband had owned their “beautiful home” for 13 years and that she and her husband were renovating it.

“I have been in areas of Philadelphia where there are drug deals. These people want you to believe that we are bringing down the neighborhood,” Rhonda Ross told the Local.

At the hearing, Howard Klein, a neighbor, said that last summer, a 15-foot trailer was replaced by a 40-foot trailer.

Rhonda Ross said that the trailers are enormous but that they were not there permanently. In a printed statement faxed to the Local in the fall of 2003, Earl Ross said, “For the record, I wish to state that today’s hearing is a result of a domestic dispute between, myself, Howard Klein and Jim Foster, the complainants.”

In the statement, Ross said that he owned several trucks and other vehicles, some of which he uses to make a living. Although he advertised the carriage house for rent in the 1990s, he said he decided against leasing it out; a family member now lives there, he said.

After the hearing, Foster told the Local that the issue is commercialism on private property and that the commercial equipment was never removed.