Pyle v. Municipality of Penn Hills
Pyle v. Municipality of Penn Hills
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Landowner Frank N. Pyle appeals from a declaratory judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County
On October 26, 1977, the landowner had applied for conditional use approval to construct a multi-family resi
On July 17, 1979, the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County reversed the boards decision and ordered that the landowners conditional use application be granted.
On March 26, 1980, the municipality enacted amendatory Zoning Ordinance No. 1617, Section 13.3. B, which provides:
An approved conditional use shall be completed within two (2) years following the date of approval. However, the Planning Department may grant an extension of time if the landowner or his agent requests such an extension, and if good cause for the extension is shown. There are no other exceptions to this rule. If, at the end of the two (2) year period, the conditional use is not completed, and if no extension has been granted, the approval of the conditional use shall be null and void.
On October 5, 1983, the landowner applied for a building permit to begin construction of the multifamily residential development, consistent with the conditional use approval. The municipality denied the landowners application for a building permit because, under Ordinance 1617, the landowners approval for a conditional use had expired as of April, 1982, two years after imposition of the time limit.
The issue is whether the municipality properly applied a two-year limitation on a conditional use approval which the landowner acquired before the enactment of the limitation.
The landowner asserts that the Supreme Courts decision in Appeal of Barefoot, 437 Pa. 323, 263 A.2d 321
The landowner also contends that this courts decision in Hakim v. Board of Commissioners of the Township of O’Hara, 27 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 405, 366 A.2d 1306 (1976), precluded the municipality from applying any time limitation to a previously approved conditional use. In Hakim, the municipality attempted to impose new sewer system design specifications after the developer had already satisfied previous conditions regarding sewer construction when he had obtained tentative approval. Here, the relevant portion of the amended ordinance imposed only a procedural limitation upon the landowners permission to construct a development as a conditional use; the time limitation did not add any new condition on how the landowner could use his land. Therefore, Hakim is not controlling.
We conclude that, when a landowner has obtained a conditional use approval, such an approval is subject to a later amendment of the applicable ordinance imposing a time limit upon the approval, if (1) the amendment contains no substantive change regarding the use of the land, (2) the amendment imposes a reasonable time
Accordingly, we affirm the sound decision of Judge Standish of the court of common pleas.
Order
Now, November 14, 1986, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Civil Division, at No. GD 84-13283, dated August 22, 1985, is affirmed.
By order dated January 29, 1986, Judge William L. Standish of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County determined that the landowners failure to file a motion for post-trial relief following the entry of the declaratory judgment did not constitute a waiver of his right to appeal the declaratory judgment to this court because the trial court foiled to comply with the necessary rules of civil procedure to indicate finality and appealability. Greenwood Township v. Kefo, Inc., 52 Pa Commonwealth Ct. 367, 370, 416 A.2d 583, 584-585 (1980).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.