Court Opinion

ID: 9785088
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 21:02:41.894626+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:05.005322
License: Public Domain

Justice SAYLOR,
concurring.
I join the majority opinion, subject only to the following, modest comments and reservations. Initially, I find Mr. Chief *167Justice Castille’s dissent to be very effective in making the point that there are circumstances in which more restrictive measures by a home-rule local government — on account of pressing local concerns — may be regarded as consistent with broader statutory schemes establishing some minimal standards of conduct. Cf. Leibowitz v. City of Mineola, Tex., 660 F.Supp.2d 775, 788 (E.D.Tex.2009) (finding that a local dog-restraint ordinance more restrictive than standards set by a state statute was not preempted). I depart, however, from the dissent in its assertion that the Legislature has manifested no intention to protect sellers of tobacco products beyond what is required by due process for criminal conviction under the Act. See Dissenting Opinion at 184, 10 A.3d at 925-26. In this regard, as the majority stresses, the Legislature took pains to avoid penalizing the sale of dual-use products, absent actual or constructive knowledge of a purchaser’s intention for illicit use.
In the present circumstances, I find that the local regulation of cigar sales in Philadelphia simply goes too far in impinging on legitimate enterprises which I believe the General Assembly did seek to protect as an apparent, subsidiary purpose, and therein lies the impermissible conflict.
Finally, I agree with Judge Friedman’s position that an inconsistent zoning and/or nuisance regulation is preempted by the Act just as are other types of regulations, see Holt’s Cigar Co. v. City of Phila., 952 A.2d 1199, 1212 (Pa.Cmwlth.2008) (Friedman, J., concurring and dissenting), albeit I do not fully share her views concerning the potential efficacy of local regulation restricting easy access to low-cost dual-use products in school zones, were it allowed, in affording some benefit. See id. at 1211, quoted in Majority Opinion at 165-66 n. 11, 10 A.3d at 913 n. 11. Moreover, I might be more sympathetic to the City’s efforts had there been a greater attempt to balance or accommodate the legitimate interests which I believe were a subject of the General Assembly’s concern, for example, by grandfathering existing specialty business premises within the designated zones subject to enhanced regulation. In the absence of any sort of accommodation along these lines, I find *168it preferable to leave it to the General Assembly to be explicit should it wish to sanction stricter local regulation of tobacco products with potentially serious economic consequences to established business enterprises operating in Pennsylvania.