A municipality seeking to sell to private developers land dedicated to public use must obtain approval from an Orphans' Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled.

In a unanimous June 20 ruling in In re Petition of the Borough of Downingtown, the justices found that Downingtown inappropriately ceded to a private party its exclusive rights as trustee of land intended for the public's benefit. Before doing so, a township must seek judicial approval under the Donated or Dedicated Property Act, the court ruled, in addition to the need to seek approval from the General Assembly for the sale of land bought using funds available through the Project 70 Land Acquisition and Borrowing Act.

“A municipality that purchases property with Project 70 Act monies, which is thereafter dedicated to a public use as a public facility, must, in order to convey that property, seek the General Assembly's release of the Project 70 Act restrictions imposed in the deed of acquisition, and must also seek Orphans' Court approval under the DDPA for the conveyance,” Justice Debra M. Todd wrote for the court.