After receiving a favorable zoning or land use decision, such as a passed ordinance amendment or a granted variance from the zoning hearing board, you should take steps to protect yourself from any validity appeals by publishing notice of the decision. Section 108 of the Municipalities Planning Code (“MPC”) provides that notice of municipal action to adopt an ordinance or enter a decision may be provided through publication, at any time, “once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality.” This notice can be published by the governing body of the municipality, by any resident or landowner in the municipality (in the case of an ordinance), or by the applicant requesting the decision, the landowner or successor in interest of the property subject to or affected by the decision (in the case of a decision). The notice must contain certain elements and statements, as provided in Section 108 of the MPC.
Once the second publication of the notice is published, any appeal or action contesting the validity of an ordinance based on procedural defect in the process of enactment, or contesting the validity of a decision based on procedural or substantive defect shall be dismissed, with prejudice, as untimely filed if not filed within the 30th day following the second publication of the notice. Only an appeal establishing an “unconstitutional deprivation of due process” will be permitted after this 30-day period following the second notice publication.
Therefore, no appeal or action can be taken to contest the validity of an ordinance or decision after the 30th day following the second publication of the notice. This extra step of publishing the Section 108 notice ensures that you can proceed with the purchase and/or development of a property pursuant to the ordinance or decision without any uncertainty as to its validity after the 30-day period.