Court Opinion

ID: 9728658
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:13:24.025865+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:50.550554
License: Public Domain

LARSEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. The majority overlooks a key fact in analyzing the opinion of the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County and in so overlooking that fact makes a faulty assumption that undermines its resolution of the site specific relief issue. The common pleas court did not strike the one provision from the ordinance to cure its de facto exclusionary effect. Rather, the common pleas court struck the one provision because that court erroneously determined that it was the only provision specifically challenged in the zoning appeal brought by appellant, H.R. Miller Company, Inc. Opinion of the Court at 3 n. 2 (June 23, 1988).1 Thus, *488the majority errs in stating that “implicit in the court’s opinion is an understanding that it is geographically and economically feasible to locate a quarry in the industrial district if the five hundred foot setback provision is eliminated.” Maj. op. at 487.
In addition to finding that the five hundred foot setback provision served to impermissibly exclude quarries from the township, the common pleas court specifically found that it would be both economically and geographically unfeasible to locate a quarry in the industrial district in that the designated district contained parcels that were too small for profitable quarry development, and that were substantially developed and unavailable for use as a quarry. Hence, the common pleas court did not “salvage” the remainder of the ordinance by striking a single provision, and the Lancaster Township zoning ordinance continues to operate as a de facto exclusion of quarries.
The issue presented by this appeal is whether appellant, having been successful in its challenge to the validity of a Lancaster Township zoning ordinance, was entitled to site specific relief, i.e., to proceed to develop its property according to the proposed land use plan appellant had presented to the appellee, Board of Supervisors of Lancaster Township, at the time of the challenge to the ordinance.
Appellant operates a twenty-nine acre limestone quarry which is nearly exhausted of its mineral reserves in Lancaster Township, Pennsylvania. The quarry has been in existence for the past 100 years and is a nonconforming use located in a residential district. In 1972, Lancaster Township adopted the revised zoning ordinance at issue herein which ordinance permitted the operation of quarries as a special exception within three industrial districts in the township. Appellant’s quarrying activities have been con*489ducted essentially upon only two of the five contiguous tracts of land it currently owns.
In 1986, appellant filed a challenge to the validity of the 1972 ordinance along with a request for a curative amendment Appellant sought to amend the zoning ordinance by proposing the establishment of a mineral recovery district which would lie within the boundaries of appellant’s property in Lancaster Township. Following seven evidentiary hearings, the Board of Supervisors upheld the validity of the 1972 ordinance and refused to adopt the curative amendment.
Appellant filed an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County. No further evidence was taken, and that court found that appellant had sustained its burden of showing that the ordinance was de facto exclusionary. In addition to finding that appellee had erred in disregarding appellant’s economic evidence and in finding that the industrial districts could support a viable quarry operation, the court specifically found that the ordinance requirement that a quarry pit be located 500-feet from “all property and street rights-of-way lines,” Lancaster Township, Pa., Revised Zoning Ordinance — 1972, art. XIII, § 1302.2.(C), was not necessary to preserve the health, safety, or general welfare of the township’s residents, and that it served to exclude quarries from the township.
The Court of Common Pleas then analyzed appellant’s request for site specific relief pursuant to 53 P.S. § 11011(2) (repealed),2 and found that appellant’s preferred site was *490unsuitable for quarry operations in that the site was more suitable for residential development. Accordingly, the court struck the 500-foot setback provision from the ordinance and denied appellant’s request for site specific relief. Both parties to this litigation appealed to the Commonwealth Court, which affirmed by memorandum opinion. Cross-petitions for allowance of appeal were filed to this Court. We denied appellee’s petition which challenged the finding that part of the 1972 zoning ordinance was exclusionary. We granted appellant’s petition for allowance of appeal which challenged the denial of site specific relief, and I would now reverse.
Appellant asserts that the courts may not totally reject the proposed land use of a landowner whose challenge to the validity of an ordinance succeeds. In Fernley v. Board of Supervisors of Schuylkill Township, 509 Pa. 413, 425, 502 A.2d 585, 591 (1985), this Court determined that a successful challenger’s proposed land use plan must be approved by the governing body of the municipality “unless the appellee can show that appellants’ plan is incompatible with the site or reasonable, pre-existing health and safety codes and regulations relating to lands, structures or their *491emplacement on lands [which] apply to the development plan.” See also Casey v. Zoning Hearing Board of Warwick Township, 459 Pa. 219, 328 A.2d 464 (1974) (successful challenger should not be frustrated in his quest for relief by a retributory township); but see Harbucks, Inc. v. Board of Supervisors of Nockamixon Center Hill, 126 Pa.Commw. 591, 560 A.2d 851 (1989) (approval for development of quarry would not be given where property contained heavy metals and other hazardous substances which posed serious threat to health of area residents).
Relying primarily upon Harbucks, supra, appellee argues that appellant’s plan is incompatible with the site, and that where incompatibility is shown, the courts are not required to approve, in whole or in part, the land use plan of a landowner who successfully challenges the validity of a zoning ordinance. Harbucks is clearly distinguishable from the instant case in two respects. The appellant herein does not seek to develop property that has been placed upon the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List due to its hazardous nature as was the case in Harbucks, and the appellant herein does not seek to introduce a new use onto its property. Rather, appellant, by seeking the adoption of its proposed mineral recovery district, is actually seeking to continue a pre-existing, nonconforming use upon a larger area of its property, which property appears, from aerial and zoning maps in the record, to be the last remaining undeveloped land in the township which could support a commercially viable quarrying operation.
By its very nature and definition, a nonconforming use can never be shown to be suitable for the site in which it is located.3 Thus, evidence regarding the impact of appel*492lant’s present quarry operation upon neighboring properties, public services, and the environment is irrelevant to the disposition of appellant’s request for site specific relief.
To determine whether appellant is entitled to site specific relief where appellant has successfully challenged the constitutionality of the applicable zoning ordinance and where appellant is actually seeking to continue a pre-existing nonconforming use upon a larger area of its property, it is useful to look to principles pertaining to nonconforming uses. In Humphreys v. Stuart Realty Corporation, 364 Pa. 616, 621, 73 A.2d 407, 409 (1950), this Court held that “a nonconforming use cannot be limited by a zoning ordinance to the precise magnitude thereof which existed at the date of the ordinance; it may be increased in extent by natural expansion and growth of trade, neither is it essential that its exercise at the time the ordinance was enacted should have utilized the entire tract upon which the business was being conducted.” See also In re Peirce’s Appeal, 384 Pa. 100, 119 A.2d 506 (1956); Borough of Cheswick v. Bechman, 352 Pa. 79, 42 A.2d 60 (1945). The expansion, however, may not be detrimental to the public welfare, safety, or health. Peirce’s Appeal, supra, 384 Pa. at 105, 119 A.2d at 509-510. Although the Court in Humphreys, supra, noted that the expansion of the nonconforming use cannot be extended over ground not owned and occupied at the time of the passage of the zoning ordinance, 364 Pa. at 620, 73 A.2d at 409, this Court has not prevented nonconforming use expansion onto after-acquired parcels of property in variance cases such as Brennen v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 409 Pa. 376, 187 A.2d 180 (1963), and Freed v. Power, 392 Pa. 195, 139 A.2d 661 (1958).4
*493Appellant herein has successfully challenged the constitutionality of Lancaster Township’s zoning ordinance, and is entitled to site specific relief in that appellant is merely seeking to continue quarrying activities that have been conducted at this location in the township for about 100 years, and it appears that this is the only location in the township that is unoccupied and could readily be adapted for this legitimate use. Appellant has nearly exhausted the limestone reserves in its present twenty-nine acre quarry. For appellant to be able to continue to conduct its business, it must be permitted to move its quarrying operations to other parts of its property. Quarrying is a legitimate and non-objectionable use of land. Exton Quarries, Inc. v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 425 Pa. 43, 228 A.2d 169 (1967); Lower Allen Citizens Action Group, Inc. v. Lower Allen Township Zoning Hearing Board, 93 Pa.Commw. 96, 500 A.2d 1253 (1985). Moreover, quarrying is an extensively regulated activity, and, if conducted within statutory and regulatory parameters, is not detrimental to the public welfare, safety, or health. Id.
Accordingly, I would reverse the order of the Commonwealth Court as it pertains to the denial of site specific relief to appellant, and I would remand to the governing body of Lancaster Township to issue the necessary permits for appellant to proceed to develop its property according to its proposed land use plan. All other controlling land use restrictions currently in force in the township, of course, must be complied with by appellant before the permits shall issue.

. Appellant also challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance on the basis that the areas zoned "Industriar were unsuitable for quarrying operations due to their size and location and on the basis that all of the conditions for approval of quarrying operations under the *488zoning ordinance "(including and especially the 500-foot setback rule)” unnecessarily restricted the development of quarries in the township. Appellant’s Challenge to Validity of Ordinance and Request for Adoption of Curative Amendment at 3. Reproduced Record at 897a (emphasis added).

. This section of the Municipalities Planning Code provided that if a court upheld a challenge to a zoning ordinance, the court could order the development or use described by the successful challenger, but had to first consider:
(i) the locational suitability of the site for the uses proposed including the general location of the site with regard to major roads, sewer facilities, water supplies, schools and other public service facilities or the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance of the municipality and county if they exist; (ii) the impact of the proposal on regional housing needs, the transportation network, and other public services and facilities; (iii) the suitability of the site for the intention of use proposed by the site’s soils, slopes, woodland, *490wetlands, flood plains, aquifers, natural resources and other natural features; (iv) the impact of the proposed use on the site’s soils, slopes, woodlands, wetlands, flood plains, natural resources and natural features, the degree to which these are protected or destroyed, the tolerance of the resources to development and any adverse environmental impacts; and (v) the impact of the proposal on the preservation of agriculture and other land uses which are essential to public health and welfare.
53 P.S. § 11011(2). This section was eliminated by Act No. 170, December 21, 1988, § 101, effective February 21, 1989. Now, it is the responsibility of the governing body of a municipality to consider these five factors when it has determined that a landowner’s challenge to the validity of an ordinance has merit. 53 P.S. § 10916.1(c)(5)(i)-(v) (Purdon Supp.1990).
Under the current statute, where a court finds merit to a landowner’s challenge to the validity of an ordinance, the court "may order the described development or use approved as to all elements or it may order it approved as to some elements and refer other elements to the governing body, agency or officer having jurisdiction thereof for further proceedings, including the adoption of alternative restrictions, ..." 53 P.S. § 11006-A.

. The definition of a nonconforming use is as follows:
A structure the size, dimension or location of which was lawful prior to the adoption, revision or amendment of a zoning ordinance, but which fails to conform to the requirements of the zoning district in which it is located by reasons of such adoption, revision or amendment. A use which does not comply with present zoning provisions but which existed lawfully and was created in good faith prior to the enactment of the zoning provision.
Black’s Law Dictionary 948 (5th ed. 1979) (emphasis added)
*492Where a landowner challenges the validity of an ordinance in the context of continuing an existing nonconforming use, the courts are not required to consider the enumerated factors under 53 P.S. § 11011(2) (repealed). Ruby v. Carlisle Zoning Hearing Board, 88 Pa.Commw. 70, 75 n. 6, 488 A.2d 655, 659 n. 6 (1985).

. Appellant acquired four of its five tracts of property after Lancaster Township rezoned the property from industrial to residential in 1960.