In re Appeal of Shore

36 Pa. D. & C.3d 68, 1983 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 54
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedDecember 5, 1983
Docketno. 81-08960-14-5
StatusPublished

This text of 36 Pa. D. & C.3d 68 (In re Appeal of Shore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Appeal of Shore, 36 Pa. D. & C.3d 68, 1983 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 54 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1983).

Opinion

BIESTER, JR., J.,

This is an appeal from the decision of the Board of Supervisors of Solebury Township denying appellant’s application for a curative amendment to provide for a mobile home park to be located upon tax parcels no. 41-8-39 and no. 41-8-40. Appellant challenges the Solebury Township, Zoning Ordinance and Map as unconstitutional and invalid by reason of its total exclusion of mobile home parks from Solebury Township.

The board made findings of fact and conclusions of law upon which it based its decision. The,court did not take any supplementary evidence or testimony. Therefore, our review of the board’s decision is limited to a determination of whether the board committed an abuse of discretion or error of law. Miller v. Warminster Township Board of Supervisors, 38 Bucks Co. L. Rep. 102 (1982). This court may not disturb the findings of the'board if they are supported by substantial evidence. 53 P.S. §1101.

As is apparent from the recitation in both appellant’s and appellee’s briefs, the history of the case is agreed upon and is essentially as follows:

Appellant, Arthur Shore, is equitable owner of the tax parcels in question. The two parcels are located at the easterly edge of Lahaska in Solebury Townsip, Bucks County, Pa. on opposite sides of Route 202. On January 7, 1980, appellant filed two curative amendment applications with the Board of Supervisors of Solebury Township. One application requested that the zoning ordinance be amended to provide for mobile home parks on. parcel no. 41-8-39. That parcel is zoned RC-Rural Commercial which permits a range of commercial, land uses. This application' challenged the zoning ordinance on the grounds of an alleged total exclusion of mobile home parks from the township. The other cura-. [70]*70tive amendment application requested that the zoning ordinance be. amended to provide for single family detached dwellings on lots of 10,000 square feet on parcel no. 41-8-40. This parcel is zoned R-l Residential which permits such dwellings but requires one acre parcels. This latter application challenged the zoning ordinance on the grounds of alleged “unnecessary and arbitrary exclusion of moderately-sized single-family detached building lots (8,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet) from the entire Township. ...” The petition claimed that this exclusion prevents a “portion of the population” from living in the township.

In accordance with the provisions of section 609.1 of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, the proposals were submitted to the Bucks County Planning Commission for review. By memorandum dated February 20, 1980, the commission concluded that the Solebury Township Zoning Ordinance was valid and recommended that the curative amendment application dealing with single family detached dwellings not be adopted. The commission did not discuss the alleged exclusion of mobile home parks.

On March 4, 1980, appellant withdrew the curative amendment application' for parcel no. 41-8-40 dealing with single-family detached dwellings and submitted a new curative amendment application for both parcels requesting the township amend its zoning ordinance to provide for a mobile home park on both parcels. In this application, appellant again challenged the zoning ordinance as unconstitutional for failing to provide for mobile home parks. The application was consolidated with" the prior mobile home park curative amendment application for the purpose of holding hearings thereon.

[71]*71The township conducted 16 hearings on the application beginning on May 8, 1980 and concluding on July 22, 1981. At the conclusion of the hearings, by decision dated September 15, 1981, the board of supervisors denied appellant’s request for a curative amendment for the aforementioned parcels of land. The instant appeal followed..

The Solebury Township Board of Supervisors, appellee, contends that the Solebury Township Zoning Ordinance is not unconstitutionally defective by reason of its alleged exclusion of mobile home parks from Solebury Township. In .support of its position, appellee first argues that mobile home parks are a permitted use in Solebury Township.

The board made the following finding:

“21. In Solebury Township mobile homes are treated as single family dwellings and may be located on lots as small as Twenty Thousand (20,000) square feet in the VR-Village Residential District. Mobile homes are also permitted in all other residential districts including the R-l district. There is no restriction in the Solebury Township Zoning Ordinances or Sub-Division Ordinance which would prevent the sub-division of an R-l, VR or other residential tract into lots which could be rented for a mobile home park.” (Findings of Fact, p. 5) (Emphasis added).

In its conclusions of law the board stated:

“1. The Solebury Township Zoning Ordinance is not unconstitutional for failing to provide for mobile home parks or mobile homes as they are a permitted use in Solebury Township.” (Conclusions of Law, p. 21). • '

While the Solebury Township Zoning Ordinance defines “mobile home park” and “trailer park”, it makes no provision whatsoever for mobile home parks as a use in any zoning district. The board [72]*72found, as set forth above, that nothing in the ordinance prevents the development of mobile home parks in the R-l or VR districts or any other residential district. This finding is not supported by substantial evidence and must be rejected. In fact, this finding directly contradicts the plain meaning of the ordinance itself.

The zoning ordinance divides the township into seven types of districts. The regulations that govern each district set forth the uses that are permitted in that district. In the use regulations for each district the list of permissible uses is predicated by the following language:

“A building or other structure may be used, occupied, erected, built or altered, and a lot or tract of land may be used or occupied for any of the following purposes and no other.” (Emphasis added).

Mobile home parks are not included in any of the lists of permissible uses. They are. therefore ex-clüded from the township by virtue of the above quoted language. Furthermore, the ordinance contains no provisions whereby a mobile home park would be permitted as a conditional use, special exception or in any other manner.

We find it important to note that the board made its finding that mobile home parks are permitted after the Bucks County Planning Commission issued a memorandum which reached the contrary conclusion. The commission issued the memorandum, dated April 2, 1980, after the curative amendment proposed had been submitted to it for review. The memorandum set forth the following conclusion:

“1. The current Solebury Township Zoning Ordinance does not provide for mobile home parks and therefore excludes a reasonable and legitimate [73]*73housing type as defined by the courts of this Commonwealth.” BCPC no. 41-80-2 p. 8.

While the zoning ordinance does permit individual mobile homes in any district where single family dwellings are permitted, it requires, however, that “For the purposes of this ordinance any inhabited trailer or mobile home shall be a single family dwelling and as such, be subject to all applicable regulations in this or other Township ordinances.” Thus mobile homes are subject to the same lot restrictions as single family dwellings.

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Bluebook (online)
36 Pa. D. & C.3d 68, 1983 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 54, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-appeal-of-shore-pactcomplbucks-1983.