South Park neighbors resolve dispute over smoke, pony manure

When smoke wafted into the barn in South Park Township, the ponies inside became restless. When the smoke thickened, the ponies became “agitated” and then “panicked,” their owner testified Wedneday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

“I was in a panic. I thought my ponies would die,” Mary Amoroso testified in a nonjury trial before Common Pleas Judge Paul F. Lutty Jr., senior judge in the Civil Division.

The smoke was coming out of the chimney of a house on Stoltz Road owned by next-door neighbor Carl Swindell.

Mrs. Amoroso said she and her husband, Dave, think that off and on from 2016 through 2018, Mr. Swindell purposely sent smoke into the barn “to harass us.”

Smoke caused breathing problems for the couple and their ponies, Mrs. Amoroso said, and contributed to the 2018 death of a chestnut mare named Sherry, 40.

The couple, who currently have seven ponies on their 2½-acre Horses Unlimited Stables, sued Mr. Swindell, seeking monetary compensation and a halt to the smoke and the spring water they say he diverts from his basement to their property.

Mr. Swindell denies their allegations, saying he burned coal and wood in a stove because his house did not have central heat or electricity. He counter-sued, seeking $35,000 from the pony owners because he said their manure pile smells bad and produces large numbers of horse flies and house flies.

Judge Lutty suggested that attorneys meet with their clients to reach a settlement. They did just that, in less than an hour.

Mr. Swindell declined comment about the settlement. He did say during the trial that he is “in the process” of acquiring a gas furnace to replace the stove he has used to heat his fiveroom cottage.

Mr. Amoroso said their neighbor agreed “not to send smoke our way. He will never send water our way.”

“I’m just glad our ponies will be safe,” Mrs. Amoroso said.

If Mr. Swindell does not follow the terms of the agreement, he could be held in contempt of court.

The couple have lived on the Stoltz Road mini-farm since 1999. Horses Unlimited offers pony camps where children learn how to ride, groom and feed the equines.

Horses and ponies have lived in that barn, on the fringes of Allegheny County’s South Park, for as long as 100 years, Mr. Amoroso said after the trial.