Hitchhiker Brewing files cross claim on lawsuit filed by couple

Building owner, borough named

Hitchhiker Brewing Co., which is being sued by a Mt. Lebanon couple who claim the brewery’s Castle Shannon Boulevard location is a nuisance and is not in compliance with zoning regulations, has filed a cross-claim against Mt. Lebanon and the owner of the building it rents.

The brewing company’s response says that the two parties — and not Hitchhiker — should be solely held liable for any future judgment.

Jason Sheraw and Adelle Nalevanko, whose Pennsylvania Avenue property borders Hitchhiker’s Mt. Lebanon location, filed a lawsuit Jan. 2. The building’s owner, Grand View Development, and Mt. Lebanon also are named in the court filing.

Hitchhiker’s taproom is at 190 Castle Shannon Blvd. and its outdoor deck is about 11 feet from the edge of the couple’s property line.

Attorney Robert Goldman, who represents the couple, has said his clients have seen patrons coming out of the taproom, walking through their yard, tossing garbage in their yard and urinating in their yard.

In its cross-claim, filed Jan. 29 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, Hitchhiker responded to several of the complaints stated in the lawsuit.

For instance, the original lawsuit contends the couple’s home, which was built circa 1940, was zoned residential at the time of its construction and the zoning classification was changed to C-1 neighborhood commercial sometime after 1940 but before the couple purchased the home.

In its response, Hitchhiker said there are multiple residential properties on Pennsylvania Avenue, but it denied the street is “primarily” a residential neighborhood. The cross-claim stated the “plaintiffs’ property is zoned commercial and borders at least one other commercial property.”

Hitchhiker also denied allegations that the property is a “nuisance property.” The brewing company also denies it permits loud noise that disturbs the residential feel of the neighborhood.

The couple’s lawsuit contends the municipality approved an occupancy permit for Hitchhiker to sell alcohol while knowing the taproom did not have a restaurant liquor license.

Hitchhiker currently holds a “brewery” license and a supplemental “brewery storage” license, which Hitchhiker states allow for the operation of all of its establishments, including the Mt. Lebanon location and its Sharpsburg location.

William Buck, attorney for Hitchhiker Brewing Co. could not be reached for comment. Attorney Liam Krahe, counsel for Grand View Development, declined comment.

Mr. Krahe filed preliminary objections to the couple’s lawsuit on behalf of Grand View Development in a document dated Jan. 28.

“The complaint fails to allege any facts whatsoever to support Plaintiffs’ contention that Defendants engaged in the alleged conspiratorial scheme,” Grand View’s preliminary objection states.

In its preliminary objections, Mt. Lebanon claimed the municipality is “immune from the suit under the doctrine of government immunity and the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act.”

Michael DiSantis, attorney for the municipality, declined to comment.

A hearing on the preliminary objections is scheduled for March 22.