C.W. Shane, Jr. v. Cecil Twp. ZHB & Cecil Twp. Bd. of Supers.

CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 15, 2026
Docket1756 C.D. 2024
StatusUnpublished
AuthorLeavitt

This text of C.W. Shane, Jr. v. Cecil Twp. ZHB & Cecil Twp. Bd. of Supers. (C.W. Shane, Jr. v. Cecil Twp. ZHB & Cecil Twp. Bd. of Supers.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
C.W. Shane, Jr. v. Cecil Twp. ZHB & Cecil Twp. Bd. of Supers., (Pa. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Charles W. Shane, Jr., : Appellant : : v. : No. 1756 C.D. 2024 : Argued: November 6, 2025 Cecil Township Zoning Hearing : Board and Cecil Township Board : of Supervisors :

BEFORE: HONORABLE CHRISTINE FIZZANO CANNON, Judge HONORABLE STACY WALLACE, Judge HONORABLE MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, Senior Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY SENIOR JUDGE LEAVITT FILED: January 15, 2026

Charles W. Shane, Jr. (Landowner) appeals an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County (trial court) holding that a proposed office building on Landowner’s property had to account for the residential use of an adjacent property. Accordingly, the proposed office building had to be set back 100 feet from the adjacent residential property line. In so holding, the trial court affirmed the decision of the Cecil Township Zoning Hearing Board (Zoning Board) that the residential use of an adjacent property does not cease when the dwelling thereon has been condemned as uninhabitable. It further held that Landowner did not meet the requirements applicable to his alternate request for a variance. On appeal, Landowner contends that the trial court erred and abused its discretion in its construction and application of the Cecil Township Zoning Ordinance.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

1 CECIL TOWNSHIP UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE, Ordinance No. 5-00, adopted May 17, 2000, as amended (Zoning Ordinance). Background Landowner owns a parcel at 38 Grudevich Road (Property) in Cecil Township (Township) that is located in the C-1 General Commercial Zoning District (C-1 District). Adjacent thereto, at 52 Grudevich Road (Adjacent Property), is a parcel on which there is a single-family home that has been condemned as unfit for habitation.2 Landowner seeks to replace the existing house on his Property with a professional office building, with a proposed side yard setback of 25 feet on each side. There is a 100-foot side yard setback required for a commercial structure adjacent to a residential property. However, Landowner believed that this setback requirement did not apply to his proposed development because the existing dwelling on the Adjacent Property has been condemned. As such, the Adjacent Property no longer has a residential use. On review of Landowner’s proposal, the Township’s zoning officer, Elizabeth Ross (Zoning Officer), determined that a side yard setback of 100 feet was required because the Adjacent Property’s residential use had not terminated. The Zoning Officer relied upon the setback requirements in the Zoning Ordinance for the C-1 District, which provide, in part, as follows: (3) Minimum front-yard setback: 45 feet (4) Minimum side-yard setback. a) Adjoining residential district or use: 100 feet b) Adjoining all other: 25 feet (5) Minimum rear-yard setback:

2 In 2022, the Township’s Code Official issued a notice of condemnation to the owner of the Adjacent Property, informing her that the house was condemned because it was unfit for human occupancy. The notice instructed the owner to make necessary repairs to bring the house into compliance with the 2012 International Property Maintenance Code (2012 IPMC) or demolish the house. 2 a) Adjoining residential district or use: 100 feet b) Adjoining all other: 40 feet

ZONING ORDINANCE §907.E (emphasis added). The Zoning Officer explained that the Adjacent Property’s single-family home is a use permitted by right in the C-1 District. As such, the abandonment standards in the Zoning Ordinance that apply to a lawful, non-conforming use of the land have no relevance. On March 19, 2024, Landowner appealed the Zoning Officer’s determination and, alternatively, applied for a dimensional variance. At the Zoning Board hearing, Landowner introduced several exhibits, including: the Zoning Officer’s March 1, 2024, determination; Landowner’s application for a variance; past and current pictures of the house on the Adjacent Property; a January 4, 2022, condemnation notice issued to the owner of the Adjacent Property; and a site plan depicting the proposed business/professional office building for Landowner’s Property. The Zoning Officer testified that a business/office building is a use permitted by right in the C-1 District, where the Property is located. The Zoning Officer confirmed her prior determination that Landowner’s proposed building needed a setback of 100 feet on the side next to the Adjacent Property because the Adjacent Property has a residential use. Landowner presented the Zoning Officer with a 2022 letter from the Township’s Code Official, Michael E. Behrens (Behrens), to the owner of the Adjacent Property stating that the house thereon was “unfit for human habitation or occupancy” and giving the owner 10 days to “make the necessary repairs and improvements required to bring the dwelling unit” into compliance with the provisions of the 2012 IPMC or begin the demolition process. Reproduced Record at 129a-30a (R.R. __). In response, the Zoning Officer testified that Behrens informed her that the Township determined not to pursue any further 3 action, even though the owner of the Adjacent Property did not make the necessary repairs to the house or demolish it. Several neighbors testified in opposition to Landowner’s appeal and variance request. Dennis Sluciak, who resides at 47 Grudevich Road, testified that his property is “basically farm land,” on which he operates a small landscaping/excavating business, while the other properties on Grudevich Road are residential. Notes of Testimony, 4/15/2024, at 11 (N.T. __); R.R. 11a. He noted that the C-1 District designation was made after these homes were built. Sluciak also testified that Landowner has “been renting [] out” the house on his Property. N.T. 20; R.R. 20a. Robert McKay, who also resides on Grudevich Road, testified that the area is farmland. McKay described Landowner’s Property as having approximately 400 “white pine trees” that would be removed if Landowner were to build a storage unit complex.3 N.T. 32; R.R. 32a. At the end of the hearing, Landowner’s counsel clarified that Landowner’s proposal is to develop the Property with a professional office building, not a storage facility. Regarding the application for a dimensional variance, Landowner’s counsel argued that hardship was created by the fact that the Property is 300 feet wide. A 100-foot side yard setback eliminates one-third of the lot for a commercial use, which is permitted by right. This established an unnecessary hardship.

3 In 2010, Landowner applied for a 75-foot dimensional variance to construct a combined self- storage facility and a contractor’s yard on the Property. The Zoning Board approved Landowner’s application contingent on the Township’s Board of Supervisors granting Landowner’s conditional use application for a self-storage facility and/or contractor’s yard. Following an appeal, the trial court reversed the Zoning Board’s decision, concluding that the Zoning Board’s findings of fact did not establish any factors necessary to authorize a variance. 4 The Zoning Board denied Landowner’s appeal. In its written decision, the Zoning Board made 20 findings of fact, which include, in pertinent part, the following: 6. The Property is located in the Township’s C-1 General Commercial Zoning District (“C-1 District”). .... 11. [A] vacant single-family dwelling sits on the adjacent 52 Grudevich Road property. 12. That single-family dwelling has existed on the 52 Grudevich Road [property] prior to November 1999 on an individual lot that existed prior to 1999. 13. The Township issued a “Notice of Condemnation” for the dwelling on the 52 Grudevich Road property on or about January 4, 2022. Applicant Exhibit 6. 14. The structure is classified as a single-family, one story, wood framed vacant structure. Applicant Exhibit 6. 15.

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Bluebook (online)
C.W. Shane, Jr. v. Cecil Twp. ZHB & Cecil Twp. Bd. of Supers., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cw-shane-jr-v-cecil-twp-zhb-cecil-twp-bd-of-supers-pacommwct-2026.