Court Opinion

ID: 9643629
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:35:54.422054+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:01.995298
License: Public Domain

*269SAYLOR, Justice,
dissenting.
I join Mr. Justice Nigro’s dissenting opinion, which concludes that the Commonwealth Court appropriately applied the traditional standard for unnecessary hardship to the circumstances of this case and properly concluded that the record does not support the request for a variance. I write only to state my view that the difficulty in this case stems from the fact that the zoning hearing board erred at the outset in allowing the applicant to proceed as if seeking a dimensional variance when, in actuality, the variance sought was for a use that is not permitted in the zoning district.
Appellant, Miryam’s, filed an application with the zoning officer seeking permission to use the premises at issue to provide up to twenty resident women suffering from emotional disabilities with basic needs, counseling and life skills training in an environment which is continuously supervised and includes twenty-four hour crisis intervention services. This, it would -seem to me, would constitute use as an “institutional facility,” the definition of which includes establishments which provide room and board to individuals who are residents by virtue of receiving supervised specialized services provided by a non-profit social service. See Pittsburgh, Pa., Code of Ordinances §903.02(i). Use of property as an institutional facility, however, is prohibited in a C-4 commercial district. Indeed, the Code permits variances only for “a use permitted in the district where the lot is located.” Id. at §909.05. Thus, a variance would not be available under the provisions of the Code to permit Miryam’s to operate as an institutional facility.
Perhaps realizing this, Miryam’s characterized its intended use of the property as a “lodging house,” a permitted use in the district. Such use, however, requires that lodging or meals be provided for compensation on a weekly or monthly basis. Pittsburgh, Pa., Code of Ordinances §903.02(l). There was no evidence presented at hearing that any compensation received by Miryam’s from its residents is other than incidental. Indeed, the evidence that was presented established that Miryam’s operates as a non-profit organization, obtaining its funding from public agencies, private foundations and contrib*270uting individuals. Additionally, the definition of a lodging house excludes residences that provide personal services associated with a personal care residence. Id. Miryam’s provision of basic needs, counseling and therapeutic activities in a supervised environment, with the objective of assisting residents to become ready for private sector housing, would appear to encompass personal services of a type that would exclude the use from qualifying as a lodging house.
In other words, under the guise of seeking a variance from lot size restrictions, Miryam’s, in reality, sought to employ the property for a use not permitted by the zoning ordinance. Although Hertzberg sought to raise this “use” issue in his appellate brief, he failed to include it among the issues identified in his notice of appeal to the trial court and thus waived the issue as an available ground for relief. Consequently, the case proceeded as if it were a true dimensional variance case.
A disguised use variance case seems to me an inappropriate vehicle in which to attempt to announce new or modified standards pertaining to requests for dimensional variances. A foundational prerequisite to a request for a dimensional variance is a determination that the proposed use for the property is itself permissible, and such permitted use is, in turn, the benchmark from which the entitlement to a dimensional variance must be assessed. Thus, I would not, in a case premised upon waiver, redirect the legal standards for determining the availability of a variance from their traditional focus upon those uses that are permitted by the zoning ordinance. See generally Allegheny West Civic Council, Inc. v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment of the City of Pittsburgh, 547 Pa. 163, 167, 689 A.2d 225, 227 (1997)(setting forth the standard for determining unnecessary hardship).
Since the majority’s holding declaring a new, multi-factor test for determining the availability of a dimensional variance is essentially detached from the facts of this case, it is difficult to discern the scope of the criteria it has identified, in particular, the economic detriment to the applicant if the variance were denied, and the characteristics of the surrounding neigh*271borhood.1 The former of these factors, under current law, would be relevant only to the extent that economic detriment is not self-inflicted and results from the practical unavailability of another permitted use. The latter factor, under present law, would be a proper consideration only to the extent that the attributes of the community are reflected in the terms and conditions of the applicable zoning ordinance — neither a zoning board nor a court would be free to substitute its views concerning the local benefits of a proposed use for those of the legislative body vested with the authority to devise and implement a comprehensive plan of development.
While some relaxation of the unnecessary hardship standard may be appropriate in cases involving true dimensional variances, the contours of the standard should be developed in cases in which issues pertaining to dimensional variances are legitimately framed and truly ripe, thus ensuring the factual and legal controversy requisite to a properly informed decision. Judicial caution and restraint are particularly warranted in areas such as zoning, where the General Assembly and local lawmaking bodies have endeavored to develop and implement laws and regulations reflecting policies that will facilitate land use appropriate to particularized local needs and concerns.
Although not unmindful of the societal benefits of Miryam’s stated purpose of aiding women with emotional disabilities, given the zoning regulations at issue and the record before us, I believe that such concern would be best addressed to the Pittsburgh City Council, the author of the Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances.

. The second factor identified by the majority, the financial hardship created by any work necessary to bring the building into strict compliance with the zoning requirements, appears to be a restatement of a traditional criterion for determining unnecessary hardship. See Allegheny West, 547 Pa. at 167, 689 A.2d at 227 (stating that "[ujnnecessary hardship is established by evidence that the physical features of the property are such that ... the property can be conformed to a permitted use only at a prohibitive expense”).