Land Use Planning: Best Practices for Engaging with the Community
Community input and engagement are a vital part of land use planning. Getting the community, including adjacent and nearby landowners involved in a positive way, however, can be challenging. Doing so often requires a concerted effort by community groups, developers, individual stakeholders, and planning practitioners. A well-thought-out and organized approach using the following best practices …
Navigating Municipal Subdivision Regulations: Tips for Developers and Builders
Subdividing refers to dividing a large plot of land into smaller parcels. For a landowner, subdividing land can be highly profitable; however, it is imperative to avoid common pitfalls that can diminish the profitability of subdividing land. With that in mind, consider the following tips for developers and builders when navigating municipal subdivision and …
Property Line Dispute – Who Pays for a Survey?
Whether you’ve owned your residential or commercial property for years or just purchased it, you may be confronted with a property line dispute at some point. It helps to have an unbiased report as to where those lines lie. A licensed surveyor can identify property boundaries and furnish a report, but who pays for a …
Municipalities Beware: Court Holds that PennDOT’s Eminent Domain Power Preempts Local Subdivision Requirements
Pennsylvania municipalities are charged with overseeing and regulating the local subdivision and land development process. To do so, the governing bodies of municipalities enact subdivision and land development ordinances (“SALDOs”) laying out the requirements that applicants must satisfy to gain municipal approval. However, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently clarified in PSIP JVI Krumsville Rd., …
Zoning vs. Land Development: An Important Limitation of the Pending Ordinance Doctrine
Zoning and land development are two related, but separate, concepts. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently highlighted this difference in the context of a land development application in the case of In Re: Appeal of Jaindl Land Company and RCSVP-Chambersburg, LLC.1 The decision focused chiefly on whether the “pending ordinance doctrine,” as it is called, applied …
2017 Township Reorganizations
By: Andrew D.H. Rau Just as the last New Year balloon drops, a municipal official’s thoughts often turn from celebration to reorganization. Yes, it is that time of year again if you operate under the Second Class Township Code. The governing statute calls for the meeting on the first …
Fair Housing Update: New Federal Guidance, and New Questions
By: Andrew D.H. Rau Zoning and land use practitioners have long looked to federal guidance interpreting the Fair Housing Act (FHA) in order to consider its interplay with state and local land use and zoning laws. Now, the U.S. Justice Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development …
Modernizing Housing Ordinances
By: Amanda J. Sundquist The White House has released a tool kit to help municipalities modernize zoning regulations related to housing. The tool kit suggests a number of potential starting points that a local government can use to encourage growth opportunities and affordable housing. Some suggestions include: Streamlining …
New Legislation Allows Municipalities to Appoint Alternate Members of Planning Commissions
On October 7, 2015, Governor Wolf signed into law Act 42 of 2015 which amends Pennsylvania’s Municipalities Planning Code to permit municipalities to appoint up to three residents of the municipality as alternate members of the municipality’s planning commission. More specifically, Act 42 addresses appointment of alternative members of the planning commission and assigns them …
What are the potential impacts of a pipeline easement on your Pennsylvania Property?
Chester County, Pennsylvania currently has a least two active pipeline projects winding through it. The Columbia Pipeline Group’s Eastside Expansion Project which runs from West Vincent to West Bradford, and Sunoco Logistics Mariner East 2 Project running from northwest to southeast Chester County. Hundreds of Chester County residents have been or will be …