It was difficult finding a lawyer to handle our zoning case. Some lawyers did not return my phone calls and others were indifferent. We were so happy to find Matthew McKeon. He was always friendly, informative and patient. Matt showed a deep understanding of our personal situation and showed empathy during this difficult time. He discussed the pros and cons of our situation and helped us decide the best course of action. I would highly recommend Matt McKeon!
Matthew M. McKeon
Agriculture Law
Agriculture is Pennsylvania’s number one industry, and MacElree Harvey’s AgLaw attorneys are a farmer’s number one asset. With decades of combined expertise representing farmers and Agri-businesses, our AgLaw practice group advises clients on scores of issues critical to both the farmer and Agri-business.
REPRESENTATIVE AREAS OF SERVICE:
- Agriculture, Communities, and Rural Environment Act (ACRE)
- Animal welfare
- Biosecurity and compliance
- Breach of contract claims
- Building code compliance
- Clean Air Act compliance
- Clean Strems Law compliance
- Clean Water Act compliance
- Cooperative formation and management
- Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) regulation
- Conservation
- Construction of agriculture structures
- Commercial Manure Hauler and Broker Certification Act (Act 49)
- Erosion and sedimentation
- Environmental regulation by EPA and DEP
- Equine Law
- Farm succession planning
- Food safety compliance
- Insurance coverage matters
- Labor and Employment, including immigration and migrant worker matters
- Land and equipment leases
- Land use planning
- Livestock mortality management
- Manure management
- Marketing contract negotiation, preparation, and litigation
- Municipal disputes
- National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulation
- Natural gas and mineral leases
- Nuisance claims
- Nutrient Credit Trading
- Odor management
- Perishable Agriculture Commodities Act (PACA)
- Production contract negotiation, preparation, and litigation
- Real estate matters relating to title, easements, licensing
- Right to Farm Act
- Sales contract negotiation, preparation, and litigation
- Trespass claims
- Uniform Construction Code (UCC)
- Veterinary services
- Water quality control and regulatory matters
- Zoning
If you would like to schedule a consultation, please call the firm at 610.436.0100 or submit the contact request form.
Remediation
When buying a property that has been used for commercial or agricultural purposes, there are often contaminated soils, water and structures. Homes may also be contaminated, most often with molds from water infiltration. These conditions may cause potential buyers to walk away from a transaction because of the uncertainties of the exposure to unknown costs and liability risks. Sellers and buyers in these circumstances must consider remediation of contamination to render properties salable and habitable. MacElree Harvey attorneys provide review of potential risks, remedies and costs associated with contaminated properties to landowners, buyers and sellers.
In a commercial transaction, a Phase One environmental review is required if there is any financial institution involved. MacElree Harvey attorneys are experienced in reviewing these reports and in understanding their limitations, as well as in aiding potential buyers assess remediation alternatives. A bewildering array of scientific professionals offer services that may, or may not, be needed to address environmental concerns. Remediation may be elegantly simple, or may require extensive work to solve the problem. There are also liability risks and limitations to reducing those risks in remediation. MacElree Harvey attorneys are experienced and adept in aiding landowners, buyers and sellers assess their options, prepare, review and monitor remediation contracts, permitting and work when environmental problems arise.
Zoning
A zoning ordinance is much more than a menu of permitted uses; rather, it includes area and bulk regulations, regulation of sensitive land areas such as woodlands, wetlands and areas of steep slope, as well as historic resources, and nonconforming uses. A thorough familiarity with both the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code and the local ordinance in question is vital to achieving success when seeking to change or amend zoning code, or when applying for a variance, conditional use or special exception.
Closely related to land use, our MacElree Harvey zoning group exclusively represents builder/developers and landowners in all aspects of zoning from petitions for zoning ordinance amendments, to applications for special exceptions, variances, conditional uses, and expansions of nonconforming uses. From giving zoning advice to representing clients involved in all aspects of zoning, our land use group attorneys each have significant experience working with zoning laws and regulations. The team counts a SuperLawyer, a Top Lawyer, and a Rising Star among its members. Several of our zoning attorneys have experience representing municipalities or zoning hearing boards and serving on a Board of Supervisors; others clerked for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County.
While our representation is confined to representing landowners, developers and tenants, our attorneys’ collective past experience allows us to provide insight into the thinking and functioning of local municipal government. We have substantial experience in preparing and presenting zoning cases, and we know how to present the evidence in support of an application, which may include fiscal and traffic impact studies, environmental analysis, geotechnical analysis, structural analysis, and other impact statements. Sometimes an approval is denied; by evaluating the likelihood of success on appeal, our experienced attorneys provide representation at the Court of Common Pleas and higher Appellate Court levels.
Many homeowners who decide to install additions to their homes or swimming pools learn that to install the pool of their dreams they must first obtain a variance. A storm water management, impervious coverage, and green space and set back requirements have become more stringent in recent years. This has resulted in many more homeowners requiring variance relief before they are permitted to install a swimming pool to meet these more complicated requirements.
MacElree Harvey’s land use attorneys are very familiar with residential variances for expansion of homes, installation of swimming pools and the like. We have established a track record of obtaining the variance relief needed in an efficient manner that makes the process as painless as possible for the homeowner.
If you would like to schedule a consultation, please call the firm at 610.436.0100 or submit the contact request form.
Municipal Government and Regulation
MacElree Harvey prepares various types of zoning applications on a regular basis, and is a leading law firm in obtaining zoning approvals. In Pennsylvania, a state law called the Municipalities Planning Code (MPC) determines the manner in which each municipality (a township, borough, or city) regulates land uses within its jurisdiction. While the City of Philadelphia, and the City of Pittsburgh are not subject to the MPC, it applies to every other municipality in Pennsylvania. Among these municipalities are 1,457 second class townships, 961 boroughs, 91 first class townships, and others. According to the Pennsylvania Association of Township Officials, townships account for 95% of the land area in Pennsylvania and the township is the oldest form of government in the United States. Nearly all of those municipalities, or local governments, have adopted a zoning ordinance and other regulations, which govern the manner in which the land in each jurisdiction can be used. These regulations are often complex and difficult to navigate. Moreover, the regulations vary from one local government to the next. Under the MPC, land use approvals are obtained through certain processes, which are brought before the governing body (i.e., a borough or city council or a township board of supervisors) or before a zoning hearing board that has been appointed by the governing body. These processes include by-right, conditional use, and special exception applications. Because these processes are often difficult to navigate, some municipalities require the applicant to be represented by an attorney. Notwithstanding such a requirement, obtaining legal representation is always a good idea.
For example, there are times when unique physical circumstances of a property make it impossible for a landowner to comply with the applicable zoning ordinance. In those cases, the landowner is required to obtain a variance. That is prosecuted before the local zoning hearing board. Other types of approvals, such as building permits, grading permits, use and occupancy permits, and others, are processed by the local government staff. Even though these types of permits are less procedurally intense, the assistance of a lawyer is often needed.
MacElree Harvey attorneys are well versed in municipal government and municipal approvals. While MacElree Harvey land use attorneys typically only represent land use applicants, they have an excellent record of experience in municipal government, with attorneys who have served in the role of municipal solicitor (i.e., the lawyer for a township, borough, etc.), township supervisor, and special counsel to municipalities in unique circumstances. These experiences have made MacElree Harvey land use attorneys uniquely adept at understanding and assisting clients with land use matters.
Municipal / Land use approvals
By-Right
A “by-right” use is one that is permitted by a zoning ordinance without the need for any special approvals that first need to be reviewed and approved by the governing body or the zoning hearing board. For example, with respect to a property where the zoning ordinance allows a “professional office” as a permitted use, no special zoning approvals are required. In that case, approvals will be required for the development of the property under a subdivision and land development ordinance, which regulates how the improvements are constructed, including issues such as grading, parking lots, curbs, stormwater management and a host of other issues. The use of the property for office is, however, allowed; and once the building is completed in accordance with various building codes and land development regulations, the owner is entitled to occupy the building for an office use. This right is usually memorialized by the issuance of a use and occupancy permit, once the building has been inspected and approved as meeting the building and fire codes and the land development regulations. Thus, the “by-right” zoning makes the zoning issue easy, but the development of a new building still involves many regulations that must be navigated. Assisting with the land development and the code process is part of what the MacElree Harvey Land Use Department lawyers assist clients with every day.
Use Permitted by Conditional Use and Special Exception
When a use is permitted by conditional use, it means that the use has enough impact on the municipality and its residents that the governing body wants to subject the use to specified standards that must be met before an approval is issued. These standards are typically designed to ensure that the use will not constitute an unreasonable imposition on neighboring landowners or the municipality itself. The process requires a formal hearing where the applicant must demonstrate that it meets specific conditional use standards, which themselves vary from municipality to municipality. During the hearing, the applicant must present testimony and evidence in support of the application. Issues vary and include, but are not limited to, traffic, stormwater management, emergency services accessibility, noise, dust, pedestrian flow, parking and other development impacts. The testimony will often include explanations from any combination of traffic consultants, civil engineers who specialize in land development, noise experts, and others. Certain neighbors are entitled to participate, including with their own attorney, with the right to cross examine the applicant’s witnesses and present their concerns through testimony and evidence if they so choose. At the conclusion of the hearing, the governing body deliberates and votes on the application. Under Pennsylvania law, if the applicant demonstrates that its proposed use meets all of the applicable ordinance standards, the applicant is entitled to the approval of its application for conditional use. In this sense, uses permitted by conditional use are by-right uses as long as the applicant meets its burden during the hearing. But effectively meeting this burden requires experience and planning. Over the course of the last several decades, municipalities have become much more sophisticated in the manner in which they regulate by conditional use. Applicants are well advised and sometimes required to have an attorney guide them through the conditional use process.
A special exception is analogous to a conditional use, with the primary difference being that a special exception application is processed by the zoning hearing board rather than the governing body, such as a township board of supervisors or a borough council. The process is largely the same as the conditional use process described above, except that prior to the occurrence of the proceeding before the zoning hearing board, the governing body will often review the application, and in certain cases, will oppose an application. This adds an element to the process that can be well managed by our experienced land use team of attorneys, who have a combined 75+ years of experience practicing land use law.
Land Use Planning
When planning for the development of a tract of real estate, many considerations come into play. In most cases, the various land uses permitted by the applicable zoning ordinance are studied by the developer at the outset, usually before a developer buys the real estate. We call that inquiry a zoning assessment review. The Land Use Department at MacElree Harvey is adept at assisting everyone from experienced real estate developers to novice entrepreneurs with a zoning assessment review. It is indeed a critical initial step in real estate acquisition and development. Sometimes, it is appropriate to ask the municipality to consider a zoning ordinance amendment to allow a use that may be more appropriate or beneficial for a property than that which is permitted by the existing applicable zoning regulation. MacElree Harvey’s Land Use Department has pursued and obtained many zoning changes with varying degrees of complexity, from minor residential changes to sign ordinance changes to major comprehensive zoning changes for significant developments involving large tracts of land. Thoughtful land use planning is paramount in these cases. MacElree Harvey has worked with some of the most prominent land use planners in Pennsylvania and beyond. Our attorneys understand the issues that local governments are concerned about, and plan ahead to address those concerns in order to facilitate a sensible and efficient process.
If you would like to schedule a consultation, please call the firm at 610.436.0100 or submit the contact request form.
