Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/05/2002

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November 10, 2002 -- Page 7 provided, if the establishment was determined to be a "place of assembly," it would require more parking spaces than a "restaurant." The township of Stroud den/ed the .application. It determined the OTB was to be a "place of assembly" and did not haVe an adequate-amount of parking. Mikels sued, claiming that Ihs substantive due. process fights were vio- lated. When the lower court found in favor of the township, Milreis contended' the. court erred by. refusing to include .evidence of an earlier case, Southco v. Concord Township, in which a turf club-was considered to be a restaurant. Mikels also claimed the court prevented him from. introducing state-of-mind evidence the township had improper motives for denying the application, in- ctuding evidence the township used "hired gun" lawyers and .there were "po-. litical pressures." Mikels claimed that the Township was motivated by "bias, bad faith or improper motive." ~ - DECISION: Affirmed. : The township appropriate17 denied the' application. The Southco case did not apply because, in that case, 75 Percent of the turf club was restaurant space. Here, the OTB had a very different layout. An engineer had looked at the application and noted the layout did not separate the restaurant from the gambling area and there was a theater area with long benches and numerous televisions and monitors. She concluded the facility was indeed a place where people would go to place bets, not to eat. Thus, the lower court was correct to exclude the South'co case as irrelevant. The "hired gun" argument ,Jvas frivolous, and the court noted that there was always some "political pressure" involved in local zoning cases. However, Mikels had not offered any proof there was sufficient political pressure to meet the burden of a due process violation. , Citation: Mikel Motors Inc. v. Township of Stroud, 3rd U.S. Ci-rcuit Court'of Appeals, No. 0i-4281 (2002). The 3rd Circuit has jurisdiction over Delaware, New Jersey, PennSylvania, and the Virgin Islands. see also: Zoning Heating Board of Swuthco [.nc. v. Concord Township, 713 A.2d 607 (1998). see also: Blanche Road Corp. V. Benxalem Township, 57 F. 3d 253' (1995). I I I Rezoning -- Applicant seeks.rezoning from agrictdtural- to residential County finds change is inconsistent with comprehensive policy plan FLORIDA (10/04/02) -- Mann applied for rezoning on agricultural property to be designated R-1, single-family residential. Pr/or to the hear/rig, the plan- ning division rezoning staff prepared a report that concluded the R-1 zoning 35