IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Jeffrey T. Vanvoorhis :

and Susan L. Fox :

:

v. :

: Shrewsbury Township, : No. 2056 C.D. 2016

Appellant : Argue d: June 5, 2017

BEFORE: HONORABLE P. KEVIN BROBSON, Judge

HONORABLE MICHAEL H. WOJCIK, Judge

HONORABLE JOSEPH M. COSGROVE, Judge

OPINION

BY JUDGE COSGROVE FILED: December 21, 2017

Shrewsbury Township (Township) appeals from a December 9, 2016

Order of the Court of Common Pleas of York County (trial court) that g ranted the

appeal of Jeffrey Vanvoorhis and Susan Fox (Appellees) and remanded the matter

to the Board of Supervisors (Board) for further proceedings. Upon review, we vacate

and remand.

Article IV of the Township Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance) governs the

use of lands within the Township’s agricultural district. Single

- family detached

dwellings, including mobile homes, tenant dwellings, and two

- family dwellings are

permitted as uses within the agricultural district, subject to certain conditions and

limit ations. (Reproduced Record (R.R.) at 296a.) These conditions and limitations

are set forth in Article IV, Section 404 of the Ordinance. Most pertinent to the matter2

sub judice is the allocation of dwelling units 1 upon each parcel within the agricultural

district. The number of dwelling units permitted upon each parcel within that district

is determined by the parcel as it existed on November 10, 1976, the date the

Township’s original ordinance was enacted. Id. Section 404(4) of the Ordinance

provides that a current owner may subdivide only that number of dwelling units

remaining from the original number permitted by Section 404. Id. at 298a.

The property at issue here is a 45.5 acre horse farm (Property) owned

by Appellees and located in an agricult ural district within the Township. As it

existed on November 10, 1976, the Property was afforded four development rights. 2

Located on the Property at that time was a farmhouse and a summer house. 3 On

October 22, 1990, the Township issued to then

- owner Tom Queitzch (Queitzch) a

building permit for purposes of renovating the summer house. Queitzch’s stated

intention regarding the summer house was to turn it into a study and office space for

his personal use. A bathroom was added to the existing structur e, as well as an

upstairs bedroom and closet.

In 1999, Queitzch subdivided 1.5 acres of the property. One

development right was associated with the newly

- created lot and three remained

with the Property. Of the remaining three development rights, one was assigned to

1 Dwelling unit is defined in Article II of the Ordinance as a building, or portion thereof,

providing complete housekeeping facilities for one family. (R.R. at 289a.)

2 The terms development rights and dwelling rights are used interchangeably by the part ies

to describe the rights associated with development of real property and the physical buildings

located thereon. For the sake of clarity, we will refer to development rights. An available

development right is a prerequisite for construction of a dwell ing unit.

3 The parties refer to the second building as both a summer house and a summer kitchen.

For the sake of consistency, we will refer to it at all times as a summer house.3

the farmhouse. No development right was assigned to the summer house. Appellees

purchased the property in 2003.

On June 5, 2008, Appellees filed an application with the Township for

subdivision and land development. For the next several years as the plan was

revised, questions arose regarding the number of development rights remaining with

the Property. Charles Ra usch (Rausch), the Township solicitor, opined in a

December 2, 2011 email and a January 11, 2012 memorandum that the Property had

three development rights remaining, one allocated to the house with two rights

remaining on the Property. The summer house wa s deemed a permitted accessory

use to which no development right attached.

Appellees submitted their final subdivision plan to the Board on

November 19, 2014. The plan was conditionally approved by the Board on January

8, 2015. One condition required amendment of the plan to designate the summer

house as a tenant dwelling to which a development right would attach. Appellees

declined to accept the condition and, consequently, the plan was rejected by the

Township on January 22, 2015. This decision wa s appealed to the trial court, which,

after granting Appellees’ motion to supplement the record, took additional evidence

on October 31, 2016. On December 9, 2016, the trial court entered an order which

granted the appeal and remanded the matter to the To wnship for further proceedings.

In its supporting opinion, the trial court concluded the summer house was a permitted

use for which a development right was not required and Appellees had a vested right

in not having a development right attached to the sum mer house. This appeal

followed. 4

4 Where the trial court has taken additional evidence, this Court must re view the trial

court’s findings and legal conclusions for error of law or abuse of discretion. Borough of

Jenkintown v. Board of Commissioners of Abington Township

, 858 A.2d 136, 138 (Pa. Cmwlth.

2004).4 As set forth in the Township’s brief, the following five issues are raised

on appeal:

I. Is the Common Pleas Court Order appealable? [ 5 ]

II. If a subdivision plan is rejected on multiple grounds

and at least one repr esents a clear ordinance

violation is the plan properly rejected?

III. Did the lower court err in taking additional evidence

to decide a zoning issue when the issue could not be

resolved by the Board of Supervisors?

IV. Does the ordinance in existence on t he date the plan

was filed require that the summer house [] which

was being rented as a separate dwelling unit utilize

one of the tract’s allocation of [development]

rights?

V. Do the Appellees have a vested right to not having

their summer house considere d a dwelling unit

utilizing a [development] right even if it is being

used as a dwelling?

( Township’s Brief, at 2

- 3. )

First, the Township addresses the appealability of the December 9,

2016 order. It argues the order is appealable by right per Pa.R.A.P. 311(f) because,

following remand to the Board, the issue of whether a development right must attach

to the summer house would be forever settled by the trial court’s decision. We agree.

An appeal may be taken as of right from an order of a common pleas

court or government unit remanding a matter to an administrative agency or hearing

officer that decides an issue that would ultimately evade appellate review if an

5 In an order dated January 24, 2017, the partie s were directed by this Court to address in

their briefs the appealability of the trial court’s December 9, 2016 order.5

immediate appeal is not allowed. Pa.R.A.P. 311(f)(2). Before Appellees’

subdivision plan could be approved and recorded, the Township required its

compliance with four conditions, as set forth in the Township’s January 8, 2015

letter. (R.R. at 252a.) Of those conditions, Appellees only objected to those which

related to the assignment of a d welling unit to the summer house. Id. at 49a.

The facts presented here are similar to those set forth in Schultheis v.

Board of Supervisors of Upper Bern Township

, 727 A.2d 145 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999).

In Schultheis

, a developer’s appeal of the denial of its preliminary subdivision plan

was granted and the matter remanded with a directive that the developer be given

the opportunity to correct any deficiencies in the plan. Once the developer revised

the plan and presented it to the township, any issues app ealable would be those

relating to the revised plan and not the defective preliminary plan. This Court,

concluding issues related to the preliminary plan would otherwise evade appellate

review, found the matter immediately appealable.

Here, as the Tow nship notes in its brief, the only point of contention

between the parties was settled by the trial court. Logically, following remand, there

should be no impediment to the Township accepting Appellees’ plan. However,

should the Township once more deny t he plan, the trial court would only review the

new reasons for denial, and none from the prior litigation. Whether the summer

house should be assigned a development right is an issue that would evade appellate

review if the order of the trial court were n ot deemed immediately appealable.

Pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 311(f)(2) and Schultheis

, we conclude the December 9, 2016

order is immediately appealable and we may proceed with reviewing the Township’s

remaining arguments.6 Next, the Township argues the subdiv ision plan was rejected on

multiple grounds and at least one of those grounds represents a clear ordinance

violation; therefore, the plan was properly rejected. The Township cites Shelbourne

Square Associates v. Board of Supervisors of Township of Exeter

, 794 A.2d 946 (Pa.

Cmwlth. 2002) as standing for the proposition that a municipality’s denial of a land

development application will be upheld where there is a single valid reason to do so.

In Shelbourne

, the developer sought review of the township’s den ial of

its application for commercial subdivision and development. After reviewing the

alleged defects in the plan, this Court determined that most were correctable by fairly

simple amendments to the documents and none represented “objective defects in th e

subdivision itself that w[ould] justify outright denial.” 794 A.2d at 950. The trial

court’s decision affirming denial of the plan was upheld by this Court because the

correctable defects were accompanied by a “single legitimate planning issue...” Id.

a t 951.

In addition to the conditions which relate to assignment of a

development right to the summer house, the Township rejected Appellees’ plan for

the following reasons:

1) Section 404.1(C) of the Township Subdivision and

Land Development Ordinance (SALD O) requires all

plans contain notarized signatures of all owners, and

Appellees’ plan failed to contain such signatures.

2) Section 404.5(F) of the SALDO requires that, prior to

approval, Appellees obtain certification that the

proposed method of sewage dispo sal be approved by

the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

This requires a planning module be approved by DEP

prior to plan approval and no such planning module has

been approved.7 3) Appellees have failed to pay all fees as required by

Section 319 of the SALDO.

(R.R. at 227 a

- 229a.)

Presently, the conditions indicated by the Township were not

substantial deficiencies, but rather correctable defects which were “not of

themselves sufficient to deny the plan.” Shelbourne

, 794 A.2d at 951. Todd Zeigler

(Zeigler), the Township Manager, referred to them as “housekeeping items” when

testifying at the October 31, 2016 hearing. (R.R. at 179a.) Upon questioning by the

trial court, Zeigler admitted the only conditions which were “deal breakers”

c oncerned “development rights and the assignment of one to the [summer house],”

and the DEP approval came in shortly after the Township conditionally approved

the plan on January 8, 2015. Id. at 182a. Appellee Fox testified she had no objection

to meeting all conditions required by the Township, with the exception of those

which required assignment of a development right to the summer house. Id. at 49a.

Given that the Township deemed these issues minor enough to grant conditional

approval, and any issue requiring DEP approval appears to have resolved prior to

the Township’s denial of the plan, we cannot agree that any one of them constitutes

a single legitimate basis for denying the plan. Whether a development right must be

assigned to the summer house i s a question to be resolved with the Township’s final

two issues presented.

The Township next argues the trial court erred in allowing the

introduction of additional evidence. While conceding the trial court is vested with

discretion to determine wheth er additional evidence may be introduced, the

Township contends the trial court is not required to allow its introduction. The

Township asserts that Appellees sought, and the trial court granted, zoning relief in8

the nature of a variance. Had Appellees s ought a variance, the matter would have

proceeded before the Township Zoning Hearing Board, which would have

conducted a hearing and rendered an adjudication from which an appeal could have

been taken. The Township argues supplementation of the record wou ld have been

appropriate in that circumstance but where Appellees appealed the denial of its

subdivision application, supplementation of the record was an error of law.

A decision as to whether to allow additional evidence is a matter within

the discre tion of the trial court. McGrath Construction, Inc. v. Upper Saucon

Township Board of Supervisors

, 952 A.2d 718, 729 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008). In its

opinion supporting the grant of Appellees’ motion to supplement the record, the trial

court noted that both parties relied on documents that were not part of the original

record but supported their respective positions. (R.R. at 14a.) As the seminal issue

before the trial court was whether a development right should attach to the summer

house, it is unclear ho w the trial court erred in allowing the introduction of evidence

which assisted with the decision

- making process. Section 1005

- A of the

Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code 6 (MPC) provides that, if proper

consideration of a land use appeal requires t he presentation of additional evidence,

the trial court may hold a hearing to receive additional evidence. 53 P.S. § 11005

-

A. Further, the Township has cited no case law that suggests a trial court is

prohibited from ordering supplementation of the recor d where such evidence is

required for resolution of the issues presented. Quite simply, and given the Board

did not conduct a hearing, it would have been unwise, if not error, on the part of the

trial court had it failed to take additional evidence in thi s matter.

6 Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, added by Act of December 21, 1988, P.L. 1329, 53 P.S. §

11005

- A.9 Next, the Township argues the Ordinance requires the summer house

utilize one of the Property’s development rights. When determining a development

right need not attach to the summer house, the trial court applied the ordinance in

existence a t the time the summer house was renovated. While the Township

contends the trial court applied the incorrect ordinance, it argues a development right

must be assigned to the summer house, regardless of which ordinance is considered.

Under Section 508 (4 )(i) of the MPC, the ordinance in effect at the time

the subdivision plan is filed governs the approval process. 53 P.S. § 10508(4)(i).

Appellees filed their plan in 2008. Therefore, the Ordinance adopted by the

Township in 2003, as amended in 2006 and 2007, would have applied to the plan.

Section 404 of the Ordinance governs dwelling units and the allocation

of development rights within the agricultural district. (R.R. at 292a

– 303a.) The

trial court accepted Appellees’ argument that the summer h ouse was a permitted use

that could not have a development right assigned to it. (R.R. at 12a.)

The Township’s determination that a development right must be

allocated to the summer house is in large part based on its characterization of the

summer hous e as a tenant dwelling. Should we determine, as the Township did, that

the development right attaches because a tenant resides in the summer house, the

development right logically should revert to the Property if an existing tenant has

vacated the premise s and a new tenant is not occupying the space. The Township

suggests a development right would attach regardless of whether the summer house

was occupied by a tenant.

There is no dispute that, pursuant to Section 404(1) of the Ordinance,

the Property as it existed on November 10, 1976, had four development rights. In

1999, when the Property was subdivided, one development right was conveyed with10

the subdivided parcel, leaving three rights remaining, as no development right

attached to the summer hous e.

The disposition of this issue ultimately turns on the characterization of

the summer house’s use. “Use” is defined in Article II of the Ordinance as “[a]ny

activity carried on or intended to be carried on in a building or other structure or on

a l ot." (R.R. at 291a.) An accessory use is a subordinate use normally located on a

lot with a principal use. Id. If no principal use exists on a lot with a lawful accessory

use, the accessory use shall be considered a principal use. Id. The farmhouse o n the

Property would constitute a principal use. If more than two principal uses occupy a

single lot, each such use must be positioned so that the lot on which such uses are

located could subsequently be subdivided. Id. The summer house shares utilities

and sewer facilities with the main house. Id. at 34a. As such, and in its current

incarnation, the summer house cannot be subdivided. Its current use therefore

cannot qualify as a principal use.

The permitted accessory uses within the agricultural district are set

forth in Article IV, Section 402 of the Ordinance. (R.R. at 293a.) One such use is

“buildings and uses customarily incidental to a permitted principal use.” Id. The

Ordinance does not require allocation of a development right to such a n accessory

use. A tenant dwelling is also a permitted accessory use, but it requires utilization

of a development right. Id. The definition of tenant dwelling is included within the

overall definition of dwelling set forth in Article II of the Ordinanc e. A tenant

dwelling is defined therein as a second single

- family dwelling, located on the same

farm parcel as

, but not attached to

, a principal single

- family dwelling. Despite the

assertions of the Township in its brief, the Ordinance clearly does not require11

allocation of a development right to the summer house regardless of the manner and

use to which it is put.

It is not the duty of the appellate court to find the facts, but to determine

whether there is evidence in the record to justify the trial court’s findings of fact.

Allegheny County v. Monzo

, 500 A.2d 1096 (Pa. 1985). The Township’s own

witnesses and evidence in the record indicate a development right must only be

utilized by the summer house if it is used as a tenant dwelling. 7 However, it is not

clear from the facts in the record whether Appellees’ use of the summer house from

2003 through the present renders it a tenant house or a building and use customarily

incidenta l to a permitted principal use.

At the October 1, 2014 Board me eting, Appellee Fox was asked by the

Board Chairman if the summer house was a tenant dwelling and she responded it

was not. (C.R., Defendant’s Exhibit 42 at 3.) This assertion is belied by evidence

of record which suggests the summer house was, in fact, occupied by tenants in 2009,

2012, and 2015. (R.R. at 417a

- 419a.) At other times, it was occupied by Appellee

Fox’s father, farm help, friends, and other people known to the Appellees. Id. at

36a. Appellee Fox testified that only two individuals, Tim a nd Anna Marie Dixon,

rented the property. Id. at 37a. All other occupants worked at least part time for

Appellees on the horse farm. Id.

7 At an October 1, 2014 meeting of the Board, Township solicitor Timothy Bupp stated

that the relevant issue was the use proposed for the summer house and, if the summer house was

not used as a tenant dwelling, it did not require use of a development right. ( Original R ecord

(O .R.), Defenda nt’s Exhibit 42 at 3.) At the October 31, 2016 hearing, Keith Hunnings

(Hunnings), a consultant for the Township on zoning matters, testified that another property with

a summer house was not required to utilize a development right upon subdivision of the parcel.

(R.R. at 206a.) The summer house for that property was used as a bedroom for the owners’ son.

Id. Curiously, Zeigler testified at the October 31, 2016 hearing that a dwelling would have required

use of a development right even prior to the ado ption of the ordinance in 1976. Id. at 187a.12 Appellees’ ownership of the Property has spanned well more than a

decade but the record is only explicitly clear in regards to three years

– 2009, 2012,

and 2015

– during which the summer house was occupied by tenants, paying or

otherwise. The record is otherwise largely silent. Based on the facts before us, it is

not possible to determine whether the summer house constitutes a tenant dwelling to

which a development right must be allocated (and the facts as developed thus far

may suggest otherwise). We therefore conclude a remand is necessary for further

fact finding and development of such a record.

Finally, th e Township argues the trial court erred in finding Appellees

have a vested right in “not having a [development right] attached to the summer

house.” (R.R. at 12a.) As the trial court based its decision in part on representations

made by the Township’s le gal counsel, the Township cites Earl Township v. Reading

Broadcasting, Inc.

, 770 A.2d 794 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2001), and maintains that any

opinions provided by its solicitor are not binding unless adopted by the Township in

some official manner.

A vested ri ght is an equitable remedy under which a municipality may

be estopped from enforcing a land use regulation. Vaughn v. Zoning Hearing Board

of Township of Shaler

, 947 A.2d 218, 224

- 225 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008). Such a right

attaches when a municipality has take n some affirmative action, such as the issuance

of a permit. Id. at 225. The Township asserts Appellees’ claim is more appropriately

labeled “equitable estoppel.” (Township Brief at 30). We agree. Equitable estoppel

is appropriate where the municipali ty intentionally or negligently misrepresented its

position with reason to know the landowner would rely upon that representation.

Vaughn

, 947 A.2d at 225. This Court will not reverse the trial court’s final decree13

in equity if apparently reasonable grou nds exist for the relief ordered and no errors

or inapplicable rules of law were relied on. Earl Township

, 770 A.2d at 798. 8

The Township’s reliance on Earl Township is misplaced, as the facts in

that case make it easily distinguishable from the matter currently before this Court.

In Earl Township

, the township solicitor opined to RBI, a broadcasting company

seeking to construct a new broadcast tower, that RBI constituted a public utility, and

was thus excused from the requirement that it obtain a build ing permit prior to

construction of the tower. When the township later sought to enjoin RBI from

building the tower until it obtained a proper permit, RBI asserted the township was

equitably estopped from seeking relief because of previous representations made to

RBI. The trial court concluded the solicitor was merely expressing a legal opinion

which was contrary to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Federal

Communications Commission v. Midwest Video Corporation

, 440 U.S. 689 (1979)

(television broadcas ter cannot be considered a common carrier), decided some two

decades earlier. Under Section 619 of the MPC, adopted by the township as part of

its ordinance, an entity must be a common carrier before it will be considered a

public utility. See 53 P.S. § 10619. Midwest Video was available to the township

solicitor as well as to RBI and its counsel, and the trial court found the claim of

equitable estoppel unsupported. This Court affirmed the order of the trial court.

Unlike the parties in Earl Townsh ip

, in the case sub judice

, two

different Township solicitors provided legal opinions on multiple occasions

regarding the development rights remaining on the Property. It has not been argued

8 "[ A ] equitas prima est

– where equity applies, equity is supreme.” Brown v.

Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Pa. Cmwlth., No. 9 C.D. 2016, filed November

30, 2017

, slip op. at 5 .)14

here that these opinions were made in contravention of long

- established

jurisprudence.

In order to apply equitable estoppel, the party s eeking to be estopped

must have intentionally or negligently misrepresented some material fact, knowing

or having reason to know that the other party would justifiably rel y on the

misrepresentation, and inducing the other party to act to his or her detriment because

he or she justifiably relied on the misrepresentation. Cicchiello v. Bloomsburg

Zoning Hearing Board

, 617 A.2d 835, 837 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1992).

Appellee Fox te stified extensively regarding her understanding of the

development rights associated with the Property. Prior to purchasing the Property,

Appellee Fox contacted Township solicitor Gil Malone (Malone) and expressed her

concerns about development rights. ( R.R. at 31a.) She contacted Malone because

he had held the position of solicitor for several decades, and he was “the one that the

[T]ownship use [d] to verify development rights.” Id. at 32a. Malone was also at

that time representing the sellers of the Property. Id. On the day of settlement,

Malone provided documentary proof he had researched the issue of development

rights. Id. at 32a

- 33a. At no time were Appellees advised of conditions or

restrictions regarding the use of the summer house. Id. at 33a. Appellees would not

have purchased the property had they known a development right would attach to

the summer house upon its use as a rental property. Id.

No restrictions or conditions were attached to the building permit issued

in 1990 which gr anted Queitzch the right to renovate the summer house. (R.R. at

34a, 271a.) When Appellee Fox viewed the Property prior to purchase, the summer

house was fully furnished, with bedroom furniture present in the upstairs room. Id.

at 26a. The property lis ting stated two development rights would be conveyed with15

the Property, and the summer house came with one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bath.

Id. at 239a, 241a. When Appellees purchased the Property, it was represented to

them as a tenant house and a summer house available for any use. Id. at 68a.

Brian Kaltreider performed the 1990 renovations to the summer house

and viewed the property prior to the October 31, 2016 hearing. He testified that,

beyond a change in the exterior color of the building, it had not changed since the

renovations were completed. (R.R. at 109a.) The renovations in 1990 consisted of

tying in the electric and sewage facilities to the main house and making use of the

second floor as a bedroom. Id. at 110a.

In 2005, Appellees submitted a sketch plan to the Township with the

intention of subdividing the Property and selling two of the available development

rights. (R.R. at 40a.) Appellees were never advised by the Township that those

rights were unavailable. Id. at 41a. In June 2008, Mike Lee (Lee), the codes

enforcement officer, reported at a meeting of the Township Planning Commission

(Commission) that Appellees had two development rights remaining on their

property. Id. at 278a. It was not until November 2011 that Appel lees became aware

of a potential issue with the development rights on the Property. Id. at 44a. Minutes

from the November 16, 2011 meeting of the Commission indicated that Hunnings

was to review the development rights on the Property and present his find ings at the

December 21, 2011 meeting. Id. at 280a. At that December 11, 2011 meeting,

Hunnings reported the issue of development rights was “a legal matter and Solicitor

Rausch [wa]s reviewing it.” Id.

With regard to Rausch’s review, an email dated December 2, 2011 was

sent from Rausch to the Board and Commission. (R.R. at 284a.) That email stated

the summer house was “an accessory dwelling unit” which did not require16

assignment of a development right. Id. The email was followed by a letter dated

January 11, 2012 in which Rausch opined that “[i]f the summer house was

considered a separate dwelling unit by the improvements made in 1990, then the

allocation of a development right should have been reflected in [] 1999... Since the

Township did not requ ire that the summer house be allocated a development right in

1999, the parcel still has three [development rights] remaining, one which is to be

allocated to the existing dwelling. That leaves two [development rights] remaining

on the parcel to be used b y the [Appellees].” Id. at 285a.

Earl Schuckman (Schuckman), the Township Supervisor from 2000

-

2009, testified on behalf of the Township. Schuckman averred that any questions

on development rights were sent to Mike Lee and Malone. (R.R. at 117a.) At that

time, Lee was the zoning and codes enforcement officer and Malone represented

both the Board and Commission. Id. According to Schuckman, those seeking to

subdivide their property and the Board reasonably relied on the opinions of Lee and

Malone. Id

. at 118a.

Zeigler also testified on behalf of the Township. His testimony

regarding the reasons behind allocation of a development right to the summer house

was inconsistent and conflicting. Initially, Zeigler maintained the summer house

was a dwellin g unit requiring utilization of a development right based on the tenant

registrations submitted by Appellees in 2009, 2012, and 2015. (R.R. at 144a.) He

later testified that Township records indicated that, as far back as 1990, if a property

had more tha n one building on a parcel, a development right was assigned to the

additional buildings. Id. at 154a. This is clearly not consistent with the fact that no

development right was exhausted when the Property was subdivided in 1999.

Zeigler acknowledged a second time, on cross examination, that the Township’s17

opinion that a development right attached to the summer house was based on the

existence of tenants. Id. at 163a. Zeigler had no personal knowledge of how the

summer house was used prior to 2009. Id

.

It is c lear from the record before us that Appellees believed, based on

representations made by the Township, that no development right attached to the

summer house. What is not clear, however, is whether the Township knew, at the

time the Townshi p’s opinions were sought, of the exact use to which the summer

house was put. As indicated by our prior analysis, that use is key in determining

whether the summer house must be designated a tenant dwelling or if it qualifies as

some other type of accesso ry use. Critical to a conclusion that relief by means of

equitable estoppel is warranted is a finding that facts were misrepresented. A

conclusion as to any alleged misrepresentation of facts by the Township cannot be

reached without first understanding what information was provided to the Township

by Appellees. A remand is therefore necessary to establish, quite simply, what the

Township knew regarding the use of the summer house, and when the Township

knew it.

For these reasons, we vacate the order o f the trial court and remand this

matter to the trial court for remand to the Board for further development of the

record.

___________________________ JOSEPH M. COSGROVE, JudgeIN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Jeffrey T. Vanvoorhis :

and Susan L. Fox :

:

v. :

: Shrewsbury Township, : No. 2056 C.D. 2016

Appellant :

O R D E R

AND NOW, this 21 st day of December

, 2017, the December 9, 2016

order of the York County Court of Common Pleas is vacated and this matter is

remanded to the York County Court of Common Pleas for further proceedings

consistent with this opinion. Jurisdiction is relinquished.

___________________________ JOSEPH M. COSGROVE, Judge