Appeal of Lynch Community Homes, Inc.

• Decision Date: 10 April 1989
• Citation: 554 A.2d 155,123 Pa.Cmwlth. 278
• Parties: In re Appeal of Lynch Community Homes, Inc. from the Decision of the Zoning Hearing Board of Upper Moreland Township. Appeal of LYNCH COMMUNITY HOMES, INC.
• Court: Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Page 155

554 A.2d 155

123 Pa.Cmwlth. 278

In re Appeal of Lynch Community Homes, Inc. from the

Decision of the Zoning Hearing Board of Upper

Moreland Township.

Appeal of LYNCH COMMUNITY HOMES, INC.

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued June 15, 1988.

Decided Feb. 1, 1989.

Reargument Denied April 10, 1989.

Elias S. Cohen, Philadelphia, for appellant.

George B. Ditter, Jenkins, Tarquini & Jenkins, Ambler, for Tp. of Upper Moreland.

Howard Ulan, Asst. Counsel, Harrisburg, amicus curiae, for Com. of Pa., Dept. of Public Welfare.

Carol M. Lauchman, Lansdale, for Upper Moreland Zoning Hearing Bd Jon Pushinsky, Pushinsky & Rosenfield, Pittsburgh, for Retarded Citizens, Allegheny County Chapter.

Before SMITH, J., and KALISH and NARICK, Senior Judges.

SMITH, Judge.

Lynch Community Homes, Inc. (Appellant) appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County which sustained the decision of the Upper Moreland Township Zoning Hearing Board (Board) denying Appellant's application for a special exception ¹ to operate a home for retarded persons in Upper Moreland Township's (Township) R-3 Residential District. Issues presented for review are whether the proposed use of Appellant's property is a permitted use under the Township zoning ordinance's (Ordinance) definition of "family"; ² whether the Ordinance's definition of "family" is unconstitutional as applied to Appellant's proposed use of the subject property; whether the Ordinance's definition of "family" frustrates a legitimate state objective to provide appropriate care for mentally retarded persons; whether Appellant is entitled to a special exception under Children's Aid Society v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 44 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 123, 402 A.2d 1162 (1979); and whether the requirement that group homes be 2500 feet apart lacks a rational basis. The decision of the trial court is affirmed.

Appellant filed an application with the Board seeking a special exception under the Ordinance's "group home" exception provisions to use the subject property, a leased single-family residence, as a home for three unrelated mentally retarded persons and one houseparent. The Board, after hearing, found that Appellant's proposed operation constituted a "group home" under the Ordinance, and accordingly, required a special exception to locate within the R-3 Residential District. ³ The Board further found that the subject property was located only 1700 feet from another group home operated by Appellant in contravention of the 2500-foot distance requirement attached to the special exception governing group homes and thus denied Appellant's request for a special exception. Appellant appealed to the trial court which, without taking additional evidence, also found Appellant's proposed operation to be a group home subject to the Ordinance's special exception criteria. The trial court, like the Board, concluded that Appellant failed to satisfy the 2500-foot distance requirement, and accordingly, sustained the Board's denial of a special exception. The trial court further upheld the constitutionality of the Ordinance as applied to Appellant's proposed operation. Hence, this appeal. ⁴

Appellant initially challenges the necessity to obtain a special exception for its proposed use. Appellant argues that its operation is a Community Living Arrangement (CLA), ⁵ not a group home, and as such, should not be subject to any further requirements than those imposed upon biological families under the Ordinance since CLAs have been held to be the functional equivalents of biological families. Appellant relies upon Miller Appeal, 511 Pa. 631, 515 A.2d 904 (1986); Philadelphia Center for Developmental Services, Inc. v. Zoning Hearing Board of Plymouth Township, 89 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 591, 492 A.2d 1191 (1985); Hopkins v. Zoning Hearing Board of Abington Township, 55 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 365, 423 A.2d 1082 (1980); Children's Home of Easton v. City of Easton, 53 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 216, 417 A.2d 830 (1980); and Children's Aid Society. These cases, however, are factually inapposite and not controlling here.

One significant distinction between the instant case and the cases relied upon by Appellant is that Appellant requested a special exception under the Ordinance's "group home" exception provisions. See Certified Record; Appellant's Notice of Appeal to the trial court, Paragraph 4. It would therefore appear that Appellant erred, and not the Board, in failing to request a special exception under the Ordinance's "family" provisions. Moreover, substantial evidence of record supports the Board's finding that Appellant's proposed operation fits squarely within the Ordinance's definition of "group home". See Findings of Fact.

Other distinctions exist as well. In Miller, Philadelphia Center for Developmental Services, Inc. and Children's Home of Easton, e.g., the uses in question fit within the ordinances' definitions of "family" which did not specify any need to obtain a special exception or the like. Here, the Ordinance's definition of "family" clearly excludes Appellant's proposed use absent grant of a special exception. Moreover, the Supreme Court in Miller concluded that the use therein was a lawful, nonconforming use and intimated that a different outcome may have resulted under a more specific ordinance, such as here.

Likewise, this Court's decision in Hopkins was reached in the context of a factual matrix unlike that present here. This Court's analysis in Hopkins focused primarily upon whether or not the ordinance's definition of "family" as applied to that CLA was constitutional. The ordinance was found to be unconstitutional since no rational relationship existed between its restrictive definition of "family" and the state interest to preserve the residential character of the neighborhood. The instant case, however, entails recognition of the Ordinance's definitions of "family" and "group home" as well as a different interest advanced by the Township which will be addressed seriatim.

Similarly, this Court's decision in Children's Aid Society fails to provide persuasive support for Appellant's position. The Society, as here, was required to seek a use certificate in the nature of a special exception. This Court found that the Society sufficiently satisfied the conditions attached to the use certificate. Children's Aid Society therefore weakens, rather than supports, Appellant's position in that requiring a use certificate was not found to be an unjustified burden imposed upon the Society but not upon biological families.

Whether zoning ordinances may or may not subject CLAs or similar operations to additional requirements not imposed upon biological families, even when such operations can be viewed as functional equivalents of biological families, must be determined on a case-by-case basis with consideration given to the ordinance and municipal interests in question. Miller; Hopkins; Children's Aid Society. Accordingly, this Court declines to extend the analysis employed in the cases relied upon by Appellant to the facts presented here absent a finding that no rational relationship exists between the Ordinance's restrictive definition of "family" and the interests advanced by the Township.

Appellant contends, however, that the Ordinance's definition of "family" bears no rational relationship to the legitimate purposes which single-family residential zoning may serve. Challengers of zoning ordinances bear heavy burdens since zoning ordinances are presumed to be constitutional. Appellant must therefore establish that the Ordinance's definition of "family" is clearly arbitrary and unreasonable, having no substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals or general welfare. Should the validity of the Ordinance be "fairly debatable", the Ordinance must be upheld. See Glorioso Appeal, 413 Pa. 194, 196 A.2d 668 (1964); Owens v. Zoning Hearing Board of the Borough of Norristown, 79 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 229, 468 A.2d 1195 (1983).

To promote and protect the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the Township's citizens by securing safety from dangers and to provide for the orderly growth of the...