Agenda - Planning Commission - 03/02/2017

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Zoning Bulletin January 25, 2017 I Volume 11 I Issue 2 satisfied the ordinance's requirement for: "a site plan that reflects the location of all structures, existing and proposed; all open space areas; means of traffic access and all streets; contours of the site for each five feet of change of eleva- tion; and the location of any residential structure within 200 feet of any prop- erty boundary line of the subject site." Accordingly, the court affirmed the denial of EDF's special exception application. Case Note: EDF had also argued that the Township's zoning officer's assurance that EDF's ap- plication was completed properly was evidence that the application complied with the ordinance, and therefore the application could not be denied by the ZHB for failure to comply with the ordinance (i.e., failure to submit a site plan). The appellate court observed that the ordinance "confers authority on the ZHB, not the zoning officer; to hear and decide requests for special exceptions." Further, the court noted that the zon- ing officer's statement on which EDF based this argument was made during the hear- ing, and EDF had failed to assert that it detrimentally relied on the zoning officer's ac- ceptance of the application. Use —Applicant proposes use of a funeral home with accessory crematory use Despite applicant's claims, zoning board finds crematory (and not funeral home) is primary use, and thus prohibited in the zoning district Citation: River's Edge Funeral Chapel and Crematory, Inc. v. Zoning Hear- ing Board of Tullytown Borough, 2016 WL 6777976 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2016) PENNSYVLANIA (11/16/16)—This case addressed the issue of whether a property's principal use, as proposed by the applicant, would in actuality be a funeral home (permitted in the zoning district) or a crematory (prohibited as a principal use in the zoning district). The Background/Facts: River's Edge Funeral Chapel and Crematory, Inc. ("River's Edge") leased property located in a Light Industrial ("LI") Zoning District in Tullytown Borough (the "Borough'). The property contained an improved commercial building at which River's Edge sought to operate a fu- neral home and crematory. The LI Zoning District permitted a funeral home as a principal use in the district, but prohibited a crematory as a principal use; a crematory was permitted in the LI Zoning District as an accessory use. In September 2013, seeking to operate a proposed "funeral home and crematory" at the property, River's Edge filed an application for a Use and Oc- © 2017 Thomson Reuters 9