Zoning Law – Case Law Wire

Pennsylvania Appellate Procedure Real Estate Zoning Law

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania

Bozek v. Atlantic Wind — Internet Discovery of Wind Turbine Construction Did Not Toll MPC’s 30-Day Land Use Appeal Deadline

/ July 18, 2026

The Commonwealth Court affirmed the quashing of a land use appeal challenging a Fayette County wind power facility development plan, holding that the MPC’s 30-day appeal period ran from the date of the written approval decision — not from the objector’s internet discovery that construction had begun — and that the due process exception to the time limit must be affirmatively pleaded in the appeal.

Wyoming Administrative Law Constitutional Law Environmental Law

Wyoming Supreme Court

Uncategorized

Warren Livestock v. Albany County — Supreme Court Upholds Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone and Extends Arbitrary-and-Capricious Review to All Agency Rulemaking

/ July 15, 2026

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed Albany County’s 2023 amendments to its Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone — including a 35-acre minimum lot size within the Casper Aquifer recharge area — holding that counties may use general zoning authority under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 18-5-201 to protect groundwater without displacing WDEQ’s water quality jurisdiction. The court also established, for the first time in a published Wyoming opinion, that the arbitrary and capricious standard of review applies to all agency legislative action (rulemaking) under WAPA, resolving a gap left open by Bienz v. Board of County Commissioners, 2024 WY 102. Justice Hill dissented on authority, arguing the EQA grants WDEQ exclusive jurisdiction over water quality regulation.

New York Administrative Law Environmental Real Estate

Appellate Division, Second Department

Uncategorized

Matter of Heinchon Dairy v. Village of Pawling Planning Board — Planning Board Cannot Reverse Its Own SEQRA Finding Without Explanation

/ July 3, 2026

The Appellate Division, Second Department affirms the annulment of a planning board’s denial of a mixed-use development application, holding that the board’s conclusory determinations—issued only eight months after it issued a SEQRA negative declaration supporting the project—were arbitrary and capricious because the board offered no factual findings or reasoning to explain the reversal.

Pennsylvania Administrative Law Statutory Interpretation Zoning Law

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania

Uncategorized

Abdulhay v. Upper Macungie Township ZHB — Pennsylvania Adopts Two-Part Coverage-Gap Test for TCA Wireless Tower Variances After Loper Bright

/ July 3, 2026

The Commonwealth Court, sitting en banc, affirmed zoning variances for a 190-foot Verizon cell tower in Upper Macungie Township but adopted a new post-Loper Bright framework: carriers must first attempt to satisfy the MPC’s property-specific hardship requirements, then—if unmet—seek TCA-based relief under the two-part APT Pittsburgh coverage-gap-and-least-intrusive-means test, rejecting the Third Circuit’s FCC-derived “materially inhibit” standard. President Judge Cohn Jubelirer concurred in the result but vigorously disputed the majority’s analytical approach.

Indiana Administrative Law Municipal Law Real Estate

Indiana Supreme Court

Uncategorized

Wike v. Grandview Solar — BZA Solar Farm Approval Without Proper ETJ Authority Was Voidable, Not Void; 30-Day Challenge Window Applies

/ June 26, 2026

The Indiana Supreme Court held that a Board of Zoning Appeals’ approval of a solar-farm special exception in the town’s two-mile extraterritorial fringe—issued before the town formally authorized extraterritorial jurisdiction in its comprehensive plan—was voidable, not void; landowners who did not challenge the approval within the statutory 30-day review period waived their objection.