Mar-Del Holdings, LLC v. Orange Twp. Bd. of Supers. v. P. Brewster

CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 9, 2020
Docket1512 C.D. 2018
StatusUnpublished

This text of Mar-Del Holdings, LLC v. Orange Twp. Bd. of Supers. v. P. Brewster (Mar-Del Holdings, LLC v. Orange Twp. Bd. of Supers. v. P. Brewster) 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
Mar-Del Holdings, LLC v. Orange Twp. Bd. of Supers. v. P. Brewster, (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mar-Del Holdings, LLC, : : Appellant : : v. : No. 1512 C.D. 2018 : Submitted: December 12, 2019 Orange Township Board of : Supervisors : : v. : : Patricia Brewster, Robert Brewster, : Fred Brockway, Jan Brockway, : John D’Orazio, Pam D’Orazio, : Susan B. Fetterman, Nathanial Flook, : Sherry Flook, Charles Fritz, Jennifer : Fritz, Corey Hughes, Jaylenn Miller, : Andrew Smith, Christine Smith, : Eric Sorg and Erin Sorg :

BEFORE: HONORABLE PATRICIA A. McCULLOUGH, Judge HONORABLE MICHAEL H. WOJCIK, Judge HONORABLE BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, Senior Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY JUDGE WOJCIK FILED: March 9, 2020

Mar-Del Holdings, LLC (Landowner) appeals the order of the Court of Common Pleas of the 26th Judicial District (Columbia County Branch) (trial court) that affirmed the Orange Township (Township) Board of Supervisors’ (Board) decision, which denied Landowner’s conditional use application1 to construct a campground and recreational vehicle (RV) park2 on its property in the Township’s Rural Zoning District pursuant to the Township’s Zoning Ordinance.3

1 Section 603(c)(2) of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, as amended, 53 P.S. §10603(c)(2) states, in relevant part:

Zoning ordinances may contain . . . provisions for conditional uses to be allowed or denied by the governing body . . . pursuant to express standards and criteria set forth in the zoning ordinance. . . . In allowing a conditional use, the governing body may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards . . . in addition to those expressed in the ordinance, as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this act and the zoning ordinance[.]

See also Section 909.1(b)(3) of the MPC, added by the Act of December 21, 1988, 53 P.S. §10909.1(b)(3) (“The governing body . . . shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and render final adjudications . . . [on a]pplications for conditional use under the express provisions of the zoning ordinance pursuant to section 603(c)(2).”); Section 913.2(a), added by the Act of December 21, 1988, 53 P.S. §10913.2(a) (“Where a governing body, in zoning ordinances, has stated conditional uses to be granted or denied by the governing body pursuant to express standards and criteria, the governing body shall hold hearings on and decide requests for such conditional uses in accordance with such standards and criteria. . . . In granting a conditional use, the governing body may attach such reasonable conditions and safeguards, in addition to those expressed in the ordinance, as it may deem necessary to implement the purposes of this act in the zoning ordinance.”).

As this Court has explained:

A conditional use is a special exception which falls within the jurisdiction of the municipal legislative body rather than the zoning hearing board. The municipal legislative body may grant a conditional use pursuant to express standards and criteria set forth in the zoning ordinances enacted pursuant to the police powers to regulate land use. The fact that a use is permitted as a conditional use, rather than prohibited, reflects a legislative decision that the use is not per se adverse to the public interest.

In order to demonstrate that the applicant is entitled to the conditional use, the applicant initially bears the burden of (Footnote continued on next page…) 2 On October 12, 2016, the Township received Landowner’s Application for Conditional Use regarding its property located on the south side of LR 19030 (Mt. Pleasant Road), and on the east side of LR 19031 (Charmund Road), and west of the Sand-Bur housing development in the Township.4 In the

(continued…)

establishing that the application complies with the objective standards and criteria of the particular ordinance. Satisfaction of the applicant’s burden establishes a legislative presumption that the use is consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of the community. Once the applicant has satisfied this initial burden, the burden shifts to the objectors to rebut this presumption by establishing that the use will have a detrimental impact on the surrounding community.

In re Richboro CD Partners, L.P., 89 A.3d 742, 745 (Pa. Cmwlth.), appeal denied, 97 A.3d 746 (Pa. 2014) (citations omitted).

2 Section 3.300 of the Zoning Ordinance defines “Campground or [RV] Park” as “[a] plot of ground upon which two or more campsites are located, established or maintained for temporary occupancy by persons using tents or [RVs], and which shall not be used for long term occupancy or residency of occupants.” Reproduced Record (R.R.) at 967a.

3 Patricia Brewster, Robert Brewster, Fred Brockway, Jan Brockway, John D’Orazio, Pam D’Orazio, Susan B. Fetterman, Nathanial Flook, Sherry Flook, Charles Fritz, Jennifer Fritz, Corey Hughes, Jaylenn Miller, Andrew Smith, Christine Smith, Eric Sorg, and Erin Sorg (collectively, Objectors) oppose the application and intervened in the trial court appeal of the Board’s decision.

4 Section 1108.4 of the Township’s Zoning Ordinance sets forth the standards and criteria required for the grant of a conditional use, stating, in relevant part:

A. The proposed use shall be in harmony with [the] purposes, goals, objectives and standards of . . . this Ordinance and all other ordinances of the Township.

(Footnote continued on next page…) 3 (continued…)

B. The proposal shall also be evaluated as to the degree to which the proposed location may be particularly suitable or unsuitable for the proposed use in terms of the physical characteristics of the site.

C. The proposed use at the proposed location shall not result in a substantial or undue adverse effect on adjacent property, the character of the neighborhood, traffic conditions, . . . adjacent property values, or other matters affecting the public health, safety, and general welfare, either as they now exist or as they may in the future be developed as a result of the implementation of this Ordinance, or any other plan, program, map or ordinance of the Township.

***

D. In reviewing an application, the following additional factors shall be considered:

2. Adequacy and arrangement of vehicular traffic access and circulation, including intersections, road widths, pavement surfaces, dividers and traffic controls.

5. Adequacy of storm water and drainage facilities [and] storm water leaving any site shall not exceed pre- development levels and facilities shall be designed to accommodate a 10-year storm.

7. Adequacy, type and arrangement of trees, shrubs and other landscaping constituting a visual and/or noise buffer between the applicant’s and adjoining lands, including the maximum retention of existing vegetation.

*** (Footnote continued on next page…) 4 past, and at the time of application, the property was used as a quarry to excavate fill. The property is located near Fishing Creek, a tributary to the Susquehanna River, and is subject to flooding from Fishing Creek, which last occurred as a result of Tropical Storm Lee in 2011. The property is located in a floodplain as designated in the Township’s Floodplain Ordinance and a portion of the property is in a designated floodway.5

9. Special attention to the adequacy and impact of structures, roadways and landscaping in areas with susceptibility to ponding, flooding and/or erosion.

E. No application shall be approved unless it is found that, in addition to complying with each of the standards enumerated above, any of the application standards contained in this Ordinance shall be met.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Mar-Del Holdings, LLC v. Orange Twp. Bd. of Supers. v. P. Brewster, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mar-del-holdings-llc-v-orange-twp-bd-of-supers-v-p-brewster-pacommwct-2020.