39 Pa. Commw. 466 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1978
Opinion by
Francis P. Morris (appellant) appeals here from an order by the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County which held that the failure of the Hanover Township Board of Supervisors to act within 90 days following the submission of two inconsistent subdivision plans for the same tract could not be deemed to be approval of either plan.
Following a public hearing in April on the rezoning request, the Board of Supervisors voted not to rezone the appellant’s property to R-2. The appel
The appellant maintains that he is legally entitled to approval of his second subdivision plan inasmuch as it was a proper and valid application and the Board of Supervisors failed to render a decision in regard to it within the time and manner required under Section 508 of the MPC, 53 P.S. <^10508. This Section provides in pertinent part as follows:
All applications for approval of a plat (other than those governed by Article VII), whether*470 preliminary or final, shall be acted upon by the governing body or the planning agency within such time limits as may be fixed in the subdivision and land development ordinance but the governing body or the planning agency shall render its decision and communicate it to the applicant not later than ninety days after such application is filed.
(1) The decision of the governing body of the planning agency shall be in writing and shall be communicated to the applicant personally or mailed to him at his last known address not later than five days following the decision;
(2) When the application is not approved in terms as filed the decision shall specify the defects found in the application and describe the requirements which have not been met and shall, in each case, cite to the provisions of the statute or ordinance relied upon;
(3) Failure of the governing body or agency to render a decision and communicate it to the applicant within the time and in the manner required herein shall be deemed an approval of the application in terms as presented unless the applicant has agreed in writing to an extension of time or change in the prescribed manner of presentation of communication of the decision, in which case, failure to meet the extended time or change in manner of presentation of communication shall have like effect. . . . (Footnote omitted.) (Emphasis added.)
The threshold issue here, before we may reach the question as to whether or not the Board of Supervisors rendered its decision in a proper manner, is whether or not the 90-day provision applies when two inconsistent applications have been submitted. The appellant argues that the submission of the second
We believe that Section 508 of the MPC was enacted to remedy indecision and protracted deliberations on the part of local governing bodies and- to eliminate deliberate or negligent inaction on the part of governing officials. Mid-County Manor, Inc. v. The Haverford Township Board of Commissioners, 22 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 149, 348 A.2d 472 (1975); Township of Montgomery v. Market Center Realty
Having so decided, we need not reach the other issues raised here by the appellant.
Order
And Now, this 29th day of December, 1978, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County in the above-captioned matter is hereby affirmed.
This application was accompanied with a $500.00 check apparently to pay for the fee required with the submission of a subdivision plan.
Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, as amended, 53 P.S. §10508.