# Kennedy v. Upper Milford Township Zoning Hearing Board

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · October 27, 2003 · 575 Pa. 105

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4960027

## Case

- **Full name:** Brian KENNEDY and Susan Kennedy, Husband and Wife v. UPPER MILFORD TOWNSHIP ZONING HEARING BOARD, Richard C. Dean, Robert Salaski, T. Richard Parker, MaryLou Stefanko, Individually and The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Brian Kennedy and Susan Kennedy, Husband and Wife v. Upper Milford Township Zoning Hearing Board and The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Appeal of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** October 27, 2003
- **Citations:** 575 Pa. 105; 834 A.2d 1104; 2003 Pa. LEXIS 1966
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Cappy
- **Judges:** Cappy, Castille, Eakin, Lamb, Newman, Nigro, Saylor
- **Cited by:** 32 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4960027

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- stating that zoning hearing boards and zoning boards of adjustment are quasi-judicial bodies performing fact-finding and deliberative functions in a manner similar to a court and that “[t]he board may deliberate in private, but evidence must be received, and official action mu…
- noting that 65 Pa.C.S. § 710.1(b) “makes invalidation unavailable as a remedy where the meeting's only violation is a failure to provide a reasonable opportunity for comment by residents and taxpayers”
- stating no reason appears why process of quasi-judicial decision-making is any less deserving of protection than judicial or administrative processes
- observing that plaintiffs alleging a Sunshine Act violation bear the burden of proof due to the presumption of regularity and legality attaching to local agency proceedings

## Opinion text

Chief Justice CAPPY
concurring.
I join the majority’s decision to reverse the order of the Commonwealth Court. I write separately to emphasize that more specifically and respectfully, I join the majority opinion insofar as it concludes that the Upper Milford Township Zoning Hearing Board (Board) is a quasi-judicial body; that the Board held an executive session within the meaning of Section 708(5) of the Sunshine Act, 65 Pa.C.S. § 708(5), when it engaged in quasi-judicial deliberations during its recess; and that the evidence of record did not support the Commonwealth Court’s conclusion that the Board took unlawful official action during that recess.
Justices CASTILLE and NIGRO join this concurring opinion.

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4960027. Public record. Not legal advice.