Blaine A Lucas

October 12, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Prohibiting a use on paper is one thing, ensuring ordinance compliance is another. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in Township of Cranberry v. Spencer, Nos. 568, 569, and 570-CD-2022 (Pa. Cmwlth. Aug. 30, 2023) (Spencer II) recently considered one municipality's decades long battle over operation of a junkyard in violation of its zoning ordinance.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Anna R. Hosack

8 minute read

August 25, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

While property rights are often viewed as inherently private, both law and society recognize that there is also a public nature to the use of land. To this end, the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) establishes requirements mandating public notice of and allowing for public participation in the land use decision-making process.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Anna S. Jewart

7 minute read

April 21, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Extensive case law following Robinson II makes it clear that where oil and gas development occurs is squarely within the purview of local zoning authority, while how it occurs is a state regulatory matter.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Anna S. Jewart

8 minute read

February 10, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court considered whether a zoning hearing board properly handled competing expert testimony over what metrics to use in calculating maximum noise levels.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Anna S. Jewart

8 minute read

December 23, 2021 | The Legal Intelligencer

Under the Eminent Domain Code, a property owner asserting that a de facto taking of property has occurred is authorized to bring an "inverse condemnation" action against the condemnor in order to receive adequate compensation for the loss.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Anna S. Jewart

8 minute read

June 17, 2021 | The Legal Intelligencer

This past May, a curio story made international news when a Belgian farmer moved a stone monument on his property by approximately 7.2 feet.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Anna S. Jewart

8 minute read

April 22, 2021 | The Legal Intelligencer

Recently, the Commonwealth Court, in In Re Vacating of Old Route 322, No. 384 C.D. 2020 (Pa. Cmwlth. Mar. 3, 2021), considered what happens when adjacent landowners allege a public roadway has become so "useless, inconvenient or burdensome," that the municipality is required to vacate it under the General Road Law.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Anna S. Jewart

8 minute read

September 04, 2020 | The Legal Intelligencer

Most lawsuits settle before disposition by the courts. Any settlement agreement is just that, an agreement between the parties, which to be enforceable must possess all the elements of a valid contract—offer, acceptance, and consideration or a meeting of the minds.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Anna Z. Skipper

9 minute read

December 19, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

Now is the optimal time for municipalities to take a fresh look at their zoning ordinances to ensure they not only comply with state law, but that they are positioned to handle the influx of new and currently trending land uses.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Alyssa E. Golfieri

8 minute read

August 22, 2019 | The Legal Intelligencer

Land use disputes arising from the regulation of outdoor advertising signs (i.e., billboards) are not foreign in Pennsylvania, and over the past several decades, have become an increasingly common source of litigation in both state and federal court.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Alyssa E. Golfieri

7 minute read