Alex Goldberg

August 14, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

In In re Appeal of Council Member Cindy Bass, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court affirmed, in part, a decision by Philadelphia's Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA), finding that a real estate developer's evidence established an unnecessary hardship because it proved that the property, a vacant lot that needed costly environmental remediation, was practically valueless without the granting of a variance under the Philadelphia Zoning Code.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

8 minute read

April 29, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

In a recently published opinion, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in Shyam Ventures v. Zoning Hearing Board of the Borough of Castle Shannon, 2024 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 76 (Pa. Cmwlth. Mar. 7, 2024), set clear limits on the expansion of a legal nonconforming use and when such an expansion may be considered an entirely new use altogether.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

7 minute read

March 05, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

In a recently published opinion, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in Johnson v. Pocono Township Zoning Hearing Board, found that an owners' use of their property as a short-term rental was a legal, existing nonconformity even after an ordinance outlawed such a use in the municipality.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

8 minute read

January 09, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

Last year, the city of Philadelphia created an online portal called the landlord gateway program which allows for easy, centralized access to the resources needed for current and prospective landlords to navigate the city's processes and requirements in single location. In this article, we give a brief overview of the topics covered in the gateway and provide a basic checklist for aspiring and existing landlords.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

8 minute read

December 04, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

In a recent decision, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in City of Philadelphia v. A Kensington Joint, cautioned that local governments in Pennsylvania desiring to demolish an allegedly unsafe building structure may need to rely on more than just an inspection of the exterior of the building structure before having it demolished by way of court order.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

8 minute read

September 05, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

In a published opinion issued by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in GM Berkshire Hills v. Berks County Board of Assessment, 290 A.3d 238 (Pa. 2023), a split court upheld the ability of school districts to file real estate tax assessment appeals on recently sold, underassessed properties.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

7 minute read

August 09, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Commonwealth Court prevented a township from compelling a property developer to modify an already constructed building structure that technically ran afoul of local zoning ordinances based upon the doctrines of variance by estoppel and equitable estoppel due to the failure of township officials to provide the property developer with proper guidance during the real estate development project.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

8 minute read

July 07, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Can a long-term tenant sue for rent abatement and reimbursement of legal fees and costs for their landlord's failure to comply with the city of Philadelphia's lead paint disclosure and certification laws in a renewal lease? For a long-term tenant living in an apartment unit in the Haddington neighborhood of West Philadelphia the answer is no.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

7 minute read

June 05, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier's newly passed People's Preservation Package seeks to halt the potential freefall for federally assisted affordable housing (affordable housing) in Philadelphia.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

6 minute read

April 03, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court recently issued an opinion regarding zoning ordinance interpretations and the relationship that neighboring properties may have when an easement exists between them.

By Alan Nochumson and Alex Goldberg

7 minute read