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A lease that allocates land to a use separate from the existing use constitutes a “land development” within the meaning of the MPC.
Upper Southampton Twp. v. Upper Southampton Twp. ZHB,
885 A.2d 85 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2005), Petition for Allowance of Appeal granted, 586 Pa. 776, 895 A.2d 1265 (Pa. 2006).
Advertisers sought building and zoning permits to construct a number of billboards throughout a township. The Zoning and Code Enforcement officers rejected the applications, concluding, among other things, that a land development plan must be submitted first under the Township’s Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance (SALDO). Specifically, the officers concluded that the ground leases, upon which the billboards were to be built, provided for a “division or allocation of land . . . between . . . two or more . . . occupants” within the meaning of the SALDO and MPC Section 107. Advertisers appealed to the Zoning Hearing Board, which agreed that the billboards did not need land development review.
On appeal by the Township, the trial court reversed, ruling that a land development plan is required for a lease that transfers an interest in, and effectuates a new use of, the prescribed land. Advertisers appealed.
After a careful and comprehensive review and explication of its decisions related to the interpretation and application of the MPC’s “land development” definition, the Commonwealth Court affirmed the decision of the court below. The Court held that an agreement that allocates land for “a new possession and use” constitutes a land development within the meaning of the MPC and, in this case, the Township’s SALDO. The Court also made it clear that it is irrelevant whether such a lease delineates the exact location of the proposed activity on the land, because “to hold otherwise would allow developers to escape land development regulation simply by entering into loose, open-ended lease agreements that become specific only after the zoning permit is granted.”
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