The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. Section 10101, et seq., (MPC), the state law establishing the framework for zoning and land use development regulations in Pennsylvania, authorizes a municipality to adopt a zoning ordinance containing provisions permitting uses of land by special exception administered by the zoning hearing board. Pennsylvania courts have consistently explained that a “special exception is neither special nor an exception,” but rather a use of property expressly contemplated by a local governing body to be consistent with the overall zoning plan and the health, safety and welfare of the community, as in Freedom Healthcare Services v. Zoning Hearing Board of New Castle, 983 A.2d 1286 (Pa. 2009).
The law in Pennsylvania concerning the evidentiary standards applicable to special exception applications is well-settled. An applicant for a special exception has both the initial presentation duty and the ultimate persuasion burden as to whether the application: falls within the special exception provision of the zoning ordinance; and satisfies the specific objective criteria set forth in the zoning ordinance, as in Bray v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 410 A.2d 909 (Pa. 1980).
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