On Oct. 29, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rendered a decision in Scott v. City of Philadelphia, 2015 Pa. LEXIS 2510 (Pa. 2015), clarifying the difference in the law related to standing before a zoning hearing board governed by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. Section 10101 et seq., (MPC) and standing before a zoning board of adjustment governed by the Pennsylvania First Class City (i.e., Philadelphia) Home Rule Act, 53 P.S. Section 13131.1, (“Home Rule Act). Attention to the intricacies of the law governing standing is critical because a failure to challenge an objector’s standing at the appropriate stage of a proceeding can result in the use of an applicant’s property being interrupted or prevented by an objector who may not be directly impacted by that use.
The law regulating standing to appear before, present evidence to, and thereafter appeal a decision from a zoning hearing board governed by the MPC differs at each stage of a proceeding. First, standing to initiate an appeal to a zoning hearing board is limited by Section 913.3 of the MPC to: (1) affected landowners; (2) officers or agencies of the municipality; and (3) persons aggrieved. Once an appeal is filed, standing to appear before the board (i.e., standing to respond to and present evidence, advance arguments and cross-examine adverse witnesses on all relevant issues) is limited by Section 908(3) of the MPC to “parties,” which are defined as: the municipality; any person affected by the application who has made timely appearances of record before the zoning hearing board; and any other person, including civic or community organizations, permitted to appear before the board. Once a person becomes a party before a zoning hearing board without objection by the applicant, the person is considered “necessarily aggrieved” by an adverse decision of the board and is entitled to appeal the board’s decision to court.
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