Court Opinion

ID: 9750226
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 14:38:13.962382+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:26:04.792484
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Judge Manderino :
We are faced here with a provision of the zoning ordinance of the City of Franklin which permits the erection of a gasoline service station in the Central Business District provided that: “No existing or authorized gasoline service station is located within two hundred (200) feet, by radial measurement from any point on the lot line, of the proposed new location.” Franklin City Zoning Ordinance, Section 505.061.
The appellant, Boron Oil Company, has applied to the appropriate officials of the City of Franklin for permission to erect a gas station in the Central Business District and have been denied this right because the construction of this station would violate the above proximity regulation. Before this court, Boron Oil has challenged the constitutionality of this restriction. I agree with their contention that this provision is unconstitutional.
*160The only provisions in the entire Franklin Ordinance regulating the proximity of uses of the same kind deal solely with gasoline service stations. The City justifies this unique treatment of gasoline service stations on the basis that the stations are hazardous because of the possibility of fire and explosion, dangerous because of great traffic congestion and destructive of aesthetic character. Assuming, without deciding the validity of all of these considerations, I fail to see how they are served by a blanket two hundred (200) feet prohibition. This provision would bar in most cases competing structures on opposite sides of a highway or on different corners of an intersection. Zoning controls must relate realistically to the health, safety and morals of the community. A two hundred (200) feet proximity limitation uniformly applied to all structures might be constitutional but cannot be when it is applied, as in this case, to a single type of building.
It is well settled that an ordinance is clothed with a presumption of constitutionality. However, it is also clear that this presumption may be overcome by an ordinance which, on its face, “violates the fundamental law clearly, palpably, plainly and in such manner as to leave no doubt or hesitation, in the minds of the court.” (Emphasis added.) Bilbar Construction Co. v. Board of Adjustment, 393 Pa. 62, 141 A. 2d 851 (1958).
There can be no doubt that the fundamental law of our land includes equal protection of the laws. This assures that all persons or things rationally classified will be given the same treatment under the law. In this case, the City of Franklin has given gasoline service stations a unique classification. It is unique in that it consists of gasoline service stations alone. They are the only uses which are subject to the proximity regulation even though there are, in fact, a number of other uses which might be considered fire hazards, traffic congestors or destroyers of aesthetic character. This *161unique treatment can only be considered a clear, pal-able and plain violation of the fundamental law of equal protection. The proximity regulation in the Franklin ordinance is unconstitutional on its face.
In addition, I should like to note that there have been no decisions by the courts of Pennsylvania holding a proximity regulation, such as the one here, constitutional. Recently, the issue of the constitutionality of a proximity regulation was raised before the Supreme Court in Appeal of Faeeiolo and Barrett, 440 Pa. 508, 269 A. 2d 703 (1970). However, the Court specifically avoided deciding that issue, ending its opinion with the following words: “As we have decided that the board did not err in refusing the special exception, we need not decide whether the Township’s ordinance requiring a gasoline station building to be at least 250 feet from any residential building, church, school or existing use of the same type is constitutional.” 440 Pa. 508, 269 A. 2d 703 (1970).
I would reverse the order of the lower court and remand this case for a reconsideration of Boron Oil’s application independent of the proximity regulation.