Source: https://casetext.com/case/society-created-v-zon-bd-of-adj
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 14:53:50+00:00

Document:
Appeal from the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, No. 3272 December Term 2002, Carrafiello, J.
Samuel C. Stretton, West Chester, for appellants.
Cheryl L. Gaston, Philadelphia, for appellee, Zoning Bd. of Adjustment of the City of Philadelphia.
Glenn A. Weiner, Philadelphia, for appellee, Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc.
BEFORE: PELLEGRINI, Judge, FRIEDMAN, Judge, and JIULIANTE, Senior Judge.
Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) and Mary Cawley Tracy appeal from the December 11, 2003, order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County (trial court), which affirmed the decision of the Zoning Board of Adjustment of the City of Philadelphia (Board) to grant a use variance for the erection of a non-accessory outdoor advertising sign. We reverse.
On November 27, 2002, the Board granted the variances with the proviso that Clear Channel take down signs having a total sign area equal to or greater than 2,400 square feet. The Board concluded that Ellsworth and Clear Channel established that strict compliance with the zoning code would constitute an unnecessary hardship because of the risks associated with the recycling business. (Conclusions of Law, Nos. 8-9.) SCRUB and Tracy appealed to the trial court, which affirmed the Board's grant of variances under Hertzberg v. Zoning Board of Adjustment of the City of Pittsburgh, 554 Pa. 249, 721 A.2d 43 (1998) (relating to dimensional variances). SCRUB and Tracy now appeal to this court.
Where, as here, the trial court did not take additional evidence, our scope of review is limited to whether the Board committed a manifest abuse of discretion or an error of law. Lench v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 852 A.2d 442 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2004).
SCRUB and Tracy argue that the Board erred or abused its discretion in granting the variances inasmuch as Ellsworth and Clear Channel failed to establish unnecessary hardship. We agree.
In general, unnecessary hardship may be shown by demonstrating either that physical characteristics of the property are such that the property could not be used for the permitted purpose or could only be conformed to such purpose at a prohibitive expense, or that the characteristics of the area are such that the lot has either no value or only a distress value for any permitted purpose. In Hertzberg v. Zoning Hearing Board of Adjustment of the City of Pittsburgh, 554 Pa. 249, 721 A.2d 43 (1998), however, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania set forth a more relaxed standard for establishing unnecessary hardship for a dimensional variance, as opposed to a use variance. Under Hertzberg, the courts may consider multiple factors in determining whether the applicant established unnecessary hardship for a dimensional variance, including the cost of the strict compliance with the zoning ordinance, the economic hardship that will result from denial of a variance, and the characteristics and conditions of the surrounding neighborhood.
In Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 831 A.2d 1255, 1261 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2003), appeal denied, 577 Pa. 739, 848 A.2d 931 (2004), this court stated, "We have repeatedly held that variances from Section 14-604 of the [Philadelphia] Code are not dimensional." This is because section 14-1604 of the Philadelphia Code prohibits the use of property for non-accessory outdoor advertising signs unless its requirements are met. See id.; see also Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 787 A.2d 1123 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2001) and Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight (SCRUB) v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 772 A.2d 1040 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2001), appeal denied, 574 Pa. 778, 833 A.2d 146 (2001), cert. denied sub nom., Conrail c/o Transportation Displays, Inc. v. Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight, 539 U.S. 959 (2003). Thus, the question before us is whether Ellsworth and Clear Channel established an unnecessary hardship sufficient to obtain a use variance.
Here, the Board found that the property is currently being used for waste paper sorting and bailing and for the recycling of metal, glass and plastic products. Thus, Ellsworth and Clear Channel did not demonstrate that physical characteristics of the property are such that the property cannot be used for a permitted purpose, or that the characteristics of the area are such that the property has no value with respect to a permitted use.
Because the Board erred in concluding that Ellsworth and Clear Channel established an unnecessary hardship for a use variance, we reverse.
AND NOW, this 6th day of December, 2004, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, dated December 11, 2003, is hereby reversed.

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