Opinion

Seidita v. Board of Zoning Appeals

  • 41 Pa. Commw. 340
  • 399 A.2d 156
  • 1979 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1377
Court
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
Mar 21, 1979
Status
Published
Author
Crumlish
On the bench
Crumlish, DiSalle, MacPhail
Cited by
3 cases

The opinion

*344 Dissenting Opinion by

Judge Crumlish, Jr.:

I respectfully dissent.

I would affirm the trial court’s decision to order the zoning board to issue a special use permit to Appellee for a Children’s Day Care Center. A careful scrutiny of the City of Scranton’s zoning ordinance leads me to the inescapable conclusion that such a proposed use is permissible as an appropriate public use under Use Class 17 of the ordinance. In my opinion, the operation of a day care center fits precisely within the permissible uses set forth under Use Class 17 which “includes public and quasi-public uses of a welfare, educational . . . nature.” The ordinance’s further requirement that such public uses be “appropriate to the character of the District in which it is proposed” is clearly satisfied in the instant case since the record reveals that the building Appellee proposes to use as a day care center was originally constructed by the Scranton School District and used as a public school for over 50 years and thereafter as a parochial school for many years. The recommendation of the City Planning Commission that Appellee’s application for a special use permit be granted lends further support to my belief that the proposed use complies with the standards of the ordinance and would not adversely affect the character of the community.

While I wholeheartedly agree with the trial court’s concern that the zoning board’s decision denying Appellee’s request is an unwarranted and unreasonable intermeddling with his ownership of the property, I am more deeply concerned with the ramifications of today’s decision upon a modern society where day care centers provide an essential and needed public service to a parent who, because of outside controlling influences, is obliged to work so that he or she may adequately support and rear his or her family in a manner which will improve a much needed and too- *345 often ignored obligation. Tbe quality of Appellee’s service would be guaranteed by tbe Department of Public Welfare whose approval and licensure would be a prerequisite for operation. I believe tbe Board’s denial of Appellee’s special use permit was properly beld to bave been an abuse of discretion.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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