This case out of Erie County involved a substantive validity challenge of an ordinance down-zoning a property based on an allegation of illegal spot zoning. In affirming the dismissal of the challenge, the Commonwealth Court concluded that Objectors had failed to satisfy their burden of establishing that the parcel was characteristically similar to surrounding properties.
This blog features case law related to real estate, land use, zoning, and municipal law in Pennsylvania
Tag: Judge Brobson
In this case out of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth Court was asked to apply and interpret § 302(e) of the Eminent Domain Code. The court determined that the requirement of § 302(e) that a declaration of taking be filed within one year of being authorized did not function like a statute of limitations and that condemnation only had to be reauthorized after the one year time limit had lapsed.
This recent decision out of the Commonwealth Court dealt with the reasonableness of sewer rates charged to property owners with extraordinarily high water usage. The court found that where sewer bills are tied exclusively to metered water use, property owners can challenge higher sewer bills by showing the increased water usage is not reaching the sewer system.
In this case the Commonwealth Court was asked to weigh in on the statutory exceptions to the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act (Act). The court determined that where the conduct of a municipality’s employees is the underlying cause of a dangerous condition, the municipality is immune from liability under the Act.
In a case out of Greene County, the Commonwealth Court was asked to weigh in on a citation appeal related to a property owner covering a sidewalk on his property with a flower bed. The court determined that the municipality had to actually prove the sidewalk was public for the citation to be valid.
In a recent split decision, the Commonwealth Court ruled that a public agency can deny the duplication of certain copyrighted materials requested under the Right to Know Law (RTKL). However, the agency must make those materials available for public inspection, absent some other exemption, because they still constitute public records under the RTKL.
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