The General Assembly enacted major revisions to Pennsylvania laws governing the timing, manner and scope of review of claims that municipal actions are procedurally invalid. The impetus for this action was the increasingly frequent challenges to the procedural validity of local land use decisions, which have resulted in court decisions invalidating local ordinances and local decisions, sometimes years after the actions have been taken.
The legislation (Acts No. 2008-39 and -40) amends the Judicial Code and Municipalities Planning Code to establish strict time limits on when procedural challenges to municipal actions can be initiated and to establish an optional procedural mechanism to protect the validity of previously issued ordinances and decisions. The new limitations on procedural validity challenges and the new mechanisms to retroactively protect the validity of prior municipal actions create both opportunities and risks for municipalities, landowners and developers, and persons contesting local land use decisions.
Background: Pennsylvania’s Strict Void Ab Initio Doctrine
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