Events

Attorney Anna Skipper Jewart will present “Preparation for Zoning Hearings Post Brookview Solar: How the Commonwealth Court’s Recent Decision Changed What You Need to Bring to Win” to Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association’s (PACA) members during their monthly forum meeting on Thursday, February 8, 2024.

On November 30, 2023, the Commonwealth Court decided Brookview Solar I, LLC v. Mount Joy Township Board of Supervisors, No. 1055 CD 2022, 2023 WL 8264544 (Pa. Cmwlth. Nov. 30, 2023). That case makes zoning applicant’s jobs harder in four key ways. First, it held that if a zoning ordinance requires a demonstration of compliance with issues typically handled during land development (like stormwater management), the applicant cannot wait until a later phase of approval to show it will comply down the line. Second, if the ordinance requires submission of a report or analysis prepared by an expert, the applicant must make an expert available for cross examination or the report may be rejected. Third, evidence of compliance with a zoning ordinance based on hypothetical data may not be enough to show compliance with the ordinance. Fourth, applicants need to be ready to rebut objectors’ evidence that their use would be a detriment to the health, safety, and welfare of the community, even if the evidence submitted is speculative. This presentation will discuss how this case changes what applicants need to be ready to bring to a conditional use or special exception hearing. For more information, click here.