10 Pa. Commw. 272 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1973
Opinion by
Plaintiff, a first-class township, brings this action against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, seeking an injunction to prevent the establishment of a trailer camp or trailer park on property owned by the Commonwealth within the Township upon which is operated and maintained a State correctional institution. The zoning ordinance established by plaintiff provides that the area in which this tract is located is classified as R-l residence district. In R-l residence districts, trailer parks or trailer camps are prohibited. Defendants filed preliminary objections, raising the question of whether the Commonwealth is subject to the zoning ordinances of the plaintiff when it is using the property in its governmental capacity.
Although the law seems clear that, the Commonwealth is not subject to the zoning regulations of its
We start from the premise that the plaintiff has only the powers granted it by the Legislature, and such powers cannot be used against the Commonwealth unless the granting statute expressly so provides. Culver v. Commonwealth, 348 Pa. 472, 35 A. 2d 64 (1944);
Plaintiff does not argue that the Commonwealth has expressly subjected itself to the provision of the local zoning ordinance, but argues that since the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of July 31, 1968, P. L. 805, §619, 53 P.S. §10619, does contain exemptions and since it does not expressly include the Commonwealth as exempt, it necessarily follows that it is not exempt. This is an ingenious argument but simply is not the law.
Any doubt that might have been placed in the law by the decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in School District of Philadelphia v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 417 Pa. 277, 207 A. 2d 864 (1965), which held
Accordingly, we enter the following
Order
Now, October 11, 1973, the preliminary objections of the defendants are sustained and plaintiff’s complaint is dismissed.
Overruled on other grounds, Wolf v. Commonwealth, 403 Pa. 499, 507, 170 A. 2d 557, 562 (1961).