McNees Land Use Blog

Latest from McNees Land Use Blog

December 2, 2019

Did you know that under certain circumstances a private individual can acquire government-owned land without the government’s consent? Although the Commonwealth’s immunity from adverse possession claims has never been in question, whether political subdivisions of the Commonwealth are subject to adverse possession claims has been less clear. On September 26, 2019, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania addressed this matter in the case of City of Philadelphia v. Galdo, 2019 Pa. LEXIS 5452. In Galdo, the…

McNees Land Use Blog

Collaboration: A Better Way to Develop

By Esch McCombie

November 25, 2019

Yesterday morning on the McNees Minute on ABC 27, I briefly discussed the role local public officials – such as your municipality’s council members, commissioners or supervisors – have in the development and redevelopment processes for our communities. They play a major role in ensuring our land is developed in a smart, safe and efficient manner that provides for all the needs of a community. I stressed the importance of electing public officials who…

McNees Land Use Blog

A Tie Goes to the Runner (or the Property Owner): Interpreting Ambiguity in Zoning Ordinances

By James Strong

November 20, 2019

In baseball, if the base runner and the ball arrive at first base at the same time the tie is resolved in favor of the base runner and they are safe. Under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), if there is any ambiguity when interpreting a zoning ordinance provision, the ambiguity is interpreted in favor of the property owner and against the extension of any restriction in the ordinance provision. This rule was applied by…

McNees Land Use Blog

Man Caves and She Sheds Meet Mini-Storage…It’s a Thing

By Christopher Knarr

October 28, 2019

Luxury Garage — https://toybarnstorage.com/more-info/chandler/

Where do you spend your free time or work on your hobby? There is a concept in community planning and place making involving three separate but important social environments (or places) where people spend their time. The first two places are one’s home and one’s workplace. “Third places” generally include public or community places where people socialize or recreate, including places of worship, health clubs, bars and pubs, restaurants, stores, parks, community centers, etc. Now…

McNees Land Use Blog

A Hyperloop in Pennsylvania: More Than Just a Futuristic Notion?

By Ken Stark

October 14, 2019

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, in consultation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), is currently studying the viability of building a hyperloop tube that would transverse Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg to Philadelphia and then northeast toward Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Pennsylvania House of Representatives Resolution 1057 authorized the Commonwealth to conduct a study for a hyperloop system that would facilitate the transportation of passengers and freight at speeds approaching 700 miles per hour in pods that move…

McNees Land Use Blog

PEDF v. Commonwealth Redux: The Commonwealth Court Weighs In

By Claudia Shank

October 7, 2019

In a series of posts last year (available HERE and HERE), I discussed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s revival of the long-dormant Environmental Rights Amendment (“ERA”) to the Pennsylvania Constitution. This summer, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court authored another chapter in the ERA saga. Stick with me, because it is about to get technical… As you may recall, in Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Fund (“PEDF”) v. Commonwealth, 161 A.3d 911 (Pa. 2017), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found…

McNees Land Use Blog

Zoning, With A Little Help From Your Friends

By Peter Wertz

September 30, 2019

Some Pennsylvania municipalities are throwing out their zoning ordinances and designing fresh ones from scratch, with a little help from their neighbors. These new and (hopefully) improved ordinances not only include modified zoning districts and adapted language and concepts, but also new zoning maps – sometimes more than triple the size of the old ones. Although uncommon, this approach – which combines multiple municipal zoning jurisdictions into one, shared jurisdiction – is neither new nor…

McNees Land Use Blog

You Can’t Touch This? Supreme Court Hammers Away at Municipal Regulation of Public Utilities

By Jon Andrews

September 23, 2019

The municipal regulation of public utility facilities continues to be a topic of litigation. In April 2018, we discussed how municipalities cannot use zoning ordinances to regulate non-building facilities of public utilities. Recently, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court weighed in on whether a municipality can regulate when and how a public utility installs its improvements within the municipality’s street rights-of-way. Again, the litigation resulted in a favorable decision for the public utility. In PPL Electric…

McNees Land Use Blog

Attention Developers! Construction Stormwater Permitting Changes Imminent

By Scott Gould, Steve Matzura & Errin McCaulley

September 10, 2019

Real estate developers, construction businesses, engineers, and others involved in development projects are subject to numerous permitting and approval requirements under local, state, and federal regulatory programs. For example, development projects in Pennsylvania involving earthmoving of more than one acre (i.e. most projects) must obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit for construction-related stormwater discharges, also known as PAG-02. The current PAG-02 expires on December 7, 2019. Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental…

McNees Land Use Blog

No Notice: Commonwealth Court Scraps Township Zoning Ordinance

By Peter Haldeman

August 26, 2019

We mentioned in a prior post that failing to follow procedural requirements for land use hearings can lead to unwanted results for all – or at least most – involved. In a recent example, the Commonwealth Court ruled that Lewis Township’s Zoning Ordinance was void from inception after finding that the Board of Supervisors failed to comply with the Municipalities Planning Code (the “MPC”) requirements for adopting zoning ordinances. In Yannaccone v. Lewis Twp. Bd.…

McNees Land Use Blog

Blog Authors

Use It or Lose It: Political Subdivisions are Subject to Claims of Adverse Possession

Collaboration: A Better Way to Develop

A Tie Goes to the Runner (or the Property Owner): Interpreting Ambiguity in Zoning Ordinances

Man Caves and She Sheds Meet Mini-Storage…It’s a Thing

A Hyperloop in Pennsylvania: More Than Just a Futuristic Notion?

PEDF v. Commonwealth Redux: The Commonwealth Court Weighs In

Zoning, With A Little Help From Your Friends

You Can’t Touch This? Supreme Court Hammers Away at Municipal Regulation of Public Utilities

Attention Developers! Construction Stormwater Permitting Changes Imminent

No Notice: Commonwealth Court Scraps Township Zoning Ordinance

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