By: Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
Municipal officials and environmentalists are
lauding two bills recently signed by Gov. Ed Rendell, D, to protect local open
space zones against procedural challenges by developers.
The new laws, sponsored by state Rep. David Kessler, D-130th, of Berks County,
safeguard land preservation ordinances that have been in effect for over two
years.
Mr. Kessler's legislation reverses a 2006 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling
that removed the deadlines already in place. The court effectively allowed
opponents of a municipal ordinance to contest it based on minor matters of
process years after its adoption.
"The court effectively ended the time limit for challenging local zoning
ordinances, so townships and boroughs and their residents face the threat of
legal expenses, typically well in excess of $25,000, to defend their zoning
laws - even when the municipalities have followed the letter of the law and the
challenges are frivolous," the representative said in a statement.
"That money would be coming out of people's property taxes."
Mr. Kessler, who still sits on the Oley Township Board of Supervisors, said he
was compelled to take action against these challenges after a quarry company
succeeded in striking down a zoning ordinance enacted well in the past by
disputing the process by which it was adopted.
The Philadelphia-based environmentalist organization PennEnvironment contends
that many of the challenges to zoning ordinances by developers on procedure
have no sound basis and says the new measures are important to the conservation
of undeveloped lands throughout the state.
"Sadly, developers and their lawyers have created an entire cottage
industry to search out defects in local ordinances," said PennEnvironment
Director David Masur in a statement. "Then, these ravenous developers
threaten to sue townships into the Dark Ages if they don't change their zoning
and open up important farmlands or other spaces that local residents have
worked so hard to protect."
Cities, townships and boroughs will still face potential challenges to open
space ordinances on the basis of validity. Municipalities can only zone a tract
of land for preservation if the ordinance is consistent with the local
comprehensive land-use plan, according to Mike Brown, manager of Honey Brook
Township in Chester County.
Honey Brook is in the process of settling that kind of dispute with a
developer, which Mr. Kessler's legislation does not address. Still, Mr. Brown
said he welcomed its enactment.
"Procedural challenges are out of control," Mr. Brown said. "The
courts essentially created a condition where no one had any kind of
certainty."
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
