Albert v. Zoning Hearing Bd.

• Decision Date: 20 July 2004
• Citation: 578 Pa. 439,854 A.2d 401
• Parties: Dawn ALBERT, d/b/a The Waverly Retreat v. ZONING HEARING BOARD OF NORTH ABINGTON TOWNSHIP North Abington Township v. Zoning Hearing Board of North Abington Township Ernest J. D'Agata and Hollis D'Agata, his Wife and William D. Donahoe and Mary Carroll Donahoe, his Wife and Charles Curtain, M.D. and Judith Curtain, his Wife v. Zoning Hearing Board of North Abington Township. Appeal of Ernest J. D'Agata and Hollis D'Agata, his Wife and William D. Donahoe and Mary Carroll Donahoe, his Wife and Charles Curtain, M.D. and Judith Curtain, his Wife.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

854 A.2d 401

578 Pa. 439

Dawn ALBERT, d/b/a The Waverly Retreat v. ZONING HEARING BOARD OF NORTH ABINGTON TOWNSHIP

North Abington Township v. Zoning Hearing Board of North Abington Township

Ernest J. D'Agata and Hollis D'Agata, his Wife and William D. Donahoe and Mary Carroll Donahoe, his Wife and Charles Curtain, M.D. and Judith Curtain, his Wife v. Zoning Hearing Board of North Abington Township.

Appeal of Ernest J. D'Agata and Hollis D'Agata, his Wife and William D. Donahoe and Mary Carroll Donahoe, his Wife and Charles Curtain, M.D. and Judith Curtain, his Wife.

.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued May 13, 2003.

Decided July 20, 2004.

Sandra D. Boyle, Esq., William A. Aileo, Esq., Nicholson, for North Abington Township.

Kevin Christopher Quinn, Esq., for Ernest, et al D'Agata.

Bruce Louis Coyer, Esq., Paul A. Barrett, Esq., Scranton, for Zoning Hearing Board of North Abington Township.

George E. Clark, Esq., Chinchilla, for Dawn Albert, d/b/a The Waverly Retreat.

BEFORE: CAPPY, C.J., and CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, EAKIN and LAMB, JJ.

OPINION

Justice NIGRO.

This appeal raises the issue of whether the Commonwealth Court erred in granting a license for the operation of a halfway house for recovering alcoholics and drug-addicts in a residential zoning district based on its conclusion that the facility qualified as a "single-family detached dwelling" under the local zoning ordinance. For the following reasons, we conclude that it did err and therefore reverse.

On January 13, 2000, Dawn Albert filed a zoning application to operate a halfway house, known as The Waverly Retreat (the "Retreat"), on a 30-acre tract of land that she and her siblings own in North Abington Township (the "Township"). The Township's zoning officer denied her application, concluding that the proposed use is not a permitted use in the R-1 Low Density Residential District (the "R-1 District") in which the property is located.

Albert appealed to the Township's Zoning Hearing Board ("ZHB"), and the ZHB held a public hearing on March 14, 2000. As the ZHB stated in its findings of fact, Albert testified at the hearing that "her goal was to establish ... a sober, family-type residential environment for females ... who had completed in-patient rehabilitation programs [for drug or alcohol abuse at other facilities]." ZHB Op. at 3; R.R. at 60a. Albert testified that she intended to accommodate between six and fifteen women at the Retreat and that there would be no limit on the length of a resident's stay, provided that the resident followed the Retreat's rules. R.R. at 67a; ZHB Op. at 5. That said, Albert also presented evidence that the average stay for a resident at the facility would be between two and six months. R.R. at 49a, 92a.

According to Albert, the Retreat would not offer "treatment," but would employ a supervisor or "housemother," who would "act as a head of the household in much the same way as a parent does in a family with children." R.R. at 64a-65a; ZHB Op. at 4. The housemother would "help plan and arrange for the activities of the group," would resolve disputes among the residents, and would enforce the rules of the Retreat. R.R. at 65a; ZHB Op. at 4. Albert testified that the housemother would also be responsible for meal planning, which would be served "family style" and would be "prepared by members of the group on a rotating basis." R.R. at 65a; ZHB Op. at 4-5. Together the residents would maintain the common areas of the residence, but each would be "responsible to maintain her own personal living space." R.R. at 65a; ZHB Op. at 5. A "substantial part of each day's activities" would be "devoted to addressing and solving common problems in addiction," and the residents would "meet frequently in small groups to discuss their common experiences." R.R. at 61-62; ZHB Op. at 5. Albert testified that the residents would pay approximately $100 a day for residential services, but that the project was "not proposed as a profit-making enterprise." R.R. at 69a-70a; ZHB Op. at 12, 20. According to the ZHB, Albert "indicated that if the revenues derived from the payments by residents exceeded the expenses of the residents, she was prepared to make an appropriate pledge to a recreation or education program for the youth of the township." ZHB Op. at 20; see also R.R. at 70a. Nevertheless, the only evidence presented at the hearing regarding the Retreat's expected expenses was a lease showing that the Retreat would lease the property from the owners (Albert and her siblings) for $4,000 per month. See ZHB Op. at 3.

Based on the evidence adduced at the hearing, the ZHB reversed the decision of the zoning officer, concluding that the proposed use of the property was permitted under the local zoning ordinance because the Retreat qualified as a "single-family detached dwelling," a permissible use in the R-1 District. See North Abington Township Zoning Ordinance (the "Ordinance"), R.R. 419a. Accordingly, the ZHB approved the zoning permit, subject to a number of conditions, including that Albert operate the Retreat through a non-profit corporation. See ZHB Op. at 15; Trial Ct. Op. at 3.

On appeal, the trial court affirmed in part and reversed in part. Specifically, the trial court affirmed the granting of the application to operate the Retreat as a permitted use in the R-1 District based on its status as a "single-family detached dwelling," but struck down all of the conditions except the requirement that the facility operate through a non-profit corporation. Subsequently, the Commonwealth Court affirmed on the basis of the trial court opinion. See North Abington Twp. v. Albert, 787 A.2d 1135 (Pa.Cmwlth.2001) (Table). Appellants Ernest J. and Hollis D'Agata, William D. and Mary Carroll Donahoe, and Dr. Charles and Judith Curtin, all of whom are residents of a Township Development known as Grouse Hill, where the Retreat is to be located, sought allowance of appeal, contending that the Commonwealth Court should not have affirmed the grant of the permit application. We granted their Petition, Albert v. Zoning Hearing Bd. of North Abington Twp., 570 Pa. 700, 809 A.2d 905 (2002) (Table), and now reverse.¹ The crux of Appellants' argument to this Court is that the Commonwealth Court erred by applying an over-inclusive definition of "family" in concluding that the Retreat qualifies as a "single-family detached dwelling" under the Ordinance. We agree.

Under the Ordinance, the principal permitted uses in the R-1 District are single-family detached dwellings; churches and parish houses; public parks and playgrounds; and agriculture. Ordinance § 3.111, R.R. 419a. A single-family dwelling is defined under the Ordinance as "a detached building, designated for or occupied exclusively by one family and containing not more than one dwelling unit." Ordinance § 11.122a (emphasis added), R.R. at 503a. Meanwhile, the Ordinance defines "dwelling unit" as "[o]ne (1) or more rooms, including a kitchen or kitchenette, and sanitary facilities in a dwelling structure, designed as a unit for occupancy by not more than one (1) family for living and sleeping purposes."² Ordinance § 11.124 (emphasis added), R.R. at 504a. In light of these definitions, the parties and the lower tribunals agree that whether or not the Retreat qualifies as a "single-family detached dwelling" ultimately turns on the meaning of "family," which the Ordinance does not define. That is, only if the residents of the Retreat are a "family" for purposes of the Ordinance can the Retreat qualify as a "single-family detached dwelling" and thereby obtain a permit to operate in the R-1 District.

In addressing the proper interpretation of "family" as used in the Ordinance, the ZHB initially noted that "a permitted use must be afforded the broadest interpretation so that land owners may have the benefit of the least restrictive use in enjoyment of their land." ZHB Op. at 7 (quoting Human Consultants Services, Inc. v. Butler Twp., 137 Pa.Cmwlth. 594, 587 A.2d 40, 42 (1991)). With that standard in mind, it briefly canvassed cases in this Commonwealth which have addressed the meaning of "family" in zoning ordinances. The ZHB began with this Court's decision in Appeal of Miller, 511 Pa. 631, 515 A.2d 904 (1986), which it cited as establishing the proposition that "a group of persons need not be related by blood or marriage to constitute a family." ZHB Op. at 7. It then cited to a series of Commonwealth Court decisions holding that (1) a zoning ordinance defining family to exclude foster children was unconstitutional, because a foster family is the functional equivalent of a biologically-related family, see id. at 7-8 (citing to Children's Home v. City of Easton, 53 Pa.Cmwlth. 216, 417 A.2d 830, 832 (1980)), (2) a husband and wife housing three mentally retarded children pursuant to a Department of Public Welfare program constituted a family, see id. at 8 (citing to Hopkins v. Zoning Hearing Bd. of Abington Twp., 55 Pa.Cmwlth. 365, 423 A.2d 1082 (1980)), (3) four unrelated adult mentally retarded women and a ten-person support staff constituted a family, see id. at 8-9 (citing to JALC Real Estate Corp. v. Zoning Hearing Bd. of Lower Salford Twp., 104 Pa.Cmwlth. 605, 522 A.2d 710 (1987)), and (4) three mentally retarded residents in a supervised, residential home atmosphere with one resident staff member constituted a family.³See id. at 8 (citing to Philadelphia Center v. Zoning Hearing Bd. of Plymouth Twp., 89 Pa.Cmwlth. 591, 492 A.2d 1191, 1193 (1985)). The ZHB then concluded that "the residents of the ... proposed Waverly Retreat would in fact meet the definition of a `family' under the various case law decisions in cases with similar factual settings and similar ordinances." ZHB Op. at 14. On appeal, the trial court affirmed, incorporating into its opinion large portions of the ZHB's opinion. See Trial Ct. Op. at 7-10. The Commonwealth Court also affirmed, stating that the issues...