Blaine A Lucas

April 27, 2015 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently rendered a decision in , 100 A.3d 572 (Pa. 2014), further narrowing the definition of what constitutes a "public purpose" for a taking by eminent domain in Pennsylvania.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Alyssa E. Golfieri

8 minute read

December 16, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

With the rise of unconventional shale development in many portions of Pennsylvania, there has been a corresponding increase in litigation stemming from local government actions approving and disapproving of a wide variety of oil and gas facilities.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Alyssa E. Golfieri

7 minute read

October 21, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

On July 21, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rendered a decision in Marshall v. City of Philadelphia, 2014 Pa. LEXIS 1785 (Pa. 2014), that clarified the unnecessary hardship standard applicable to the granting of a use variance.

By By Blaine A. Lucas and Alyssa E. Golfieri

6 minute read

August 26, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

On March 10, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision in Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States, 134 S. Ct. 1257 (2013), addressing whether the federal government retains any interest in railroad rights-of-way that were created by the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875, 43 U.S.C. § 934 et seq.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Alyssa E. Golfieri

6 minute read

June 10, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

In 1999, the Pennsylvania General Assembly amended the Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), 53 P.S. §10101 et seq., to establish statewide zoning regulations for methadone treatment facilities. Section 621 of the MPC, 53 P.S. § 10621, essentially prohibited a methadone treatment facility from being located within 500 feet of an existing school, public playground, public park, residential housing area, child care facility, church, meetinghouse, or other place of worship established prior to the proposed methadone treatment facility.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Alyssa E. Golfieri

8 minute read

April 15, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

Over the past several decades, as they have become increasingly common and conspicuous, billboards also have become a source of land use litigation in both state and federal courts. The legal issues implicated by their regulation are broad, and include First Amendment and exclusionary zoning claims. As a result, local governments seeking to control the location and style of billboards must be sure to navigate carefully when weighing a landowner's or an advertising company's interests against those of the general public.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Krista-Ann M. Staley

5 minute read

February 18, 2014 | The Legal Intelligencer

In an effort to provide better safeguards to surface and mineral rights owners who might not otherwise become aware of proposed municipal actions that could affect their property interests, such as a municipality's consideration and adoption of a new zoning ordinance or zoning ordinance amendment, Gov. Tom Corbett signed Act 36 of 2013 into law July 2, 2013. Act 36, which took effect Aug. 31, 2013, amended the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code to add a requirement that municipalities provide "mailed notice" or "electronic notice" of public hearings concerning proposed zoning ordinances and zoning ordinance amendments to the owners of tracts or parcels of land or the owners of mineral rights in tracts or parcels of land located within their borders upon request by those owners.

By Blaine A. Lucas and Alyssa E. Golfieri

6 minute read