Opinion

Layne v. Zoning Board of Adjustment

  • 501 Pa. 224
  • 460 A.2d 1088
  • 1983 Pa. LEXIS 532
Court
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
May 4, 1983
Status
Published
Author
Flaherty
On the bench
Roberts, Nix, Larsen, Flaherty, McDermott
Cited by
8 cases
Authority
More cited than 10.4%

The opinion

FLAHERTY, Justice,

dissenting.

I dissent. The city zoning administrator’s testimony contained an acknowledgment of the absence of any meaningful distinction between rooming houses and boarding houses, and the city has failed to establish an evidentiary basis for excluding boarding houses from an R-4 district where rooming houses are permitted. Even if a boarding house were regarded as having a “commercial” character, due to its functional similarity to an inn, the nature of a rooming house is no less inn-like, despite its lack of meal-service, and the latter is no less “commercial” than the former. A distinction between boarding houses and rooming houses, based on the availability of meal-service, embodies no signif *230 icant difference relevant to legitimate zoning goals, and is, therefore, violative of equal protection.

It is to be noted, too, in response to the matter of scope of judicial review of zoning ordinances as addressed by Mr. Justice McDermott, that review must be sufficiently strict to constitute a meaningful inquiry. Hopewell Township Board of Supervisors v. Golla, 499 Pa. 246 , 452 A.2d 1337 (1982).

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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