34 Pa. Commw. 349 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1978
Opinion by
This is an appeal from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Schuylkill County, sitting in equity, enjoining Ringtown Enterprises, Inc., and Circle City Rentals, Inc. (defendants) from using their real estate
In 1962, the Borough of Ringtown passed an ordinance designating the area in which the property in question is located as “R-l Residence District, designed to accommodate separate family structures.” At the time the ordinance was passed,, the real estate and building were owned and used by George Huss solely as a storage place for farm machinery and drill-bit-repair equipment. This nonconforming use continued until Mr. Huss conveyed the property to the defendants in 1969. Sometime thereafter, the defendants, by their own admission, began to use the real estate and building as a storage and repair facility for tractor-trailer trucks.
Section 800(2) of the zoning ordinance provided, inter alia:
A nonconforming use all or partially conducted in a building . . . may be changed to another nonconforming use only upon determination by the Board of Adjustment, after public hearing, that the proposed new use will be no more detrimental to its neighborhood and surroundings than the use it is to replace.
No such determination has ever been made by the Board of Adjustment regarding the defendants’ property.
The chancellor concluded that the defendants had changed a permissible nonconforming use to a non-permissible nonconforming use without complying with the zoning ordinance. He therefore entered a decree nisi enjoining the use of the property as a “terminal and repair facility for tractor-trailer trucks.” A final decree dismissing the defendants’ exceptions and affirming the decree nisi was entered by the Court of Common Pleas of Schuylkill County on December 13, 1976.
Defendants also argue that they attempted to apply to the Board of Adjustment for approval of the change in use but that the zoning officer improperly refused to accept the application. The application itself is part of the record before us and clearly supports the chancellor’s finding that it was an application to erect an addition to the existing building, not an application for a change in use. The application itself indicates that the present use of the property was a “Repair Facility and Storage Warehouse.” The form provides several labeled blocks for the applicant to cheek to indicate the nature of the application. While the block labeled “Addition” was checked by the
Order affirmed.
Order
And Now, this 27th day of March, 1978, the final decree of the Court of Common Pleas of Schuylkill County, dated December 13, 1976, is hereby affirmed.