The filing of a mandatory sketch plan for a municipal development project entitles a developer to consideration of the plan and any future zoning applications under the ordinance in effect when the plan was filed, the Commonwealth Court has ruled in an issue of first impression.
A unanimous three-judge panel ruled July 6 in Board of Commissioners of Cheltenham Township v. Hansen-Lloyd that the Municipalities Planning Code creates a vested right for developers to have pending plans considered, regardless of any changes in zoning law that would affect a developer's pending application.
"So long as a land development application is pending, the applicant is entitled to a decision in accordance with the provisions of the governing ordinances or plans as they stood at the time the application was duly filed," Judge Michael H. Wojcik wrote for the court. "This protection naturally extends to decisions regarding zoning relief where such relief is a necessary part of the land development plan."
Developer Hansen-Lloyd in 2008 submitted a mandatory sketch plan to Cheltenham Township for a proposed development containing 216 units for individuals age 62 and over, in keeping with requirements set forth by an ordinance passed by the township earlier that year. The plan remained pending until 2015 as the developer and the township pursued negotiations regarding the adoption of an ordinance amendment. When negotiations concluded, Hansen-Lloyd submitted an application for a special exception with the township's zoning hearing board, seeking necessary zoning relief to construct its development.
The board held hearings on the zoning application, at which the developer and the township disputed whether the 2008 ordinance or a new ordinance passed in 2012 governed the application. Hansen-Lloyd argued that the 2008 ordinance applied because it was in effect when the plan was filed in 2008, while the township asserted that the 2012 ordinance applied because it was in effect when the zoning application was filed. The board sided with the developer, and the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas affirmed.
Section 917 of the Municipalities Planning Code provides that when a zoning application is filed for a special exception that would result in land development, the ordinance in effect at the time it is filed applies, Wojcik said. The township contended that the board's reliance on Section 508(4) of the code, which the board used to determine that the matter should be governed by the ordinance in effect at the time of the sketch plan's filing, rendered Section 917 "mere surplusage."