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Overview of Force Majeure
With COVID-19 headlines dominating the news cycle, and with no end in sight to the uncertainty that the virus brings, affected businesses are wise to consider whether the current pandemic qualifies as a “force majeure.”  In the last few weeks, the Chinese government has issued “force majeure certificates” to domestic businesses as a way of shielding companies from breach of contract claims, American businesses are sending mass e-mails to customers explaining that the virus prevents the company’s performance or operations, and businesses in an array of industries have sent formal inquiries to their service providers seeking confirmation of continued performance.

What is “Force Majeure”
The defense of force majeure will excuse a party’s performance under a contract if
Continue Reading Force Majeure Provisions and the Impacts of COVID-19

Please see below regarding the Governor’s order from our Government Relations and Labor & Employment Groups.  Do not hesitate to contact anyone at McNees with questions, including how this order might apply to your job site, project approvals or your office.  McNees is a full service law firm that remains operational, remotely and in compliance with the Governor’s order.  We are ready and able to continue to support our clients’ needs during this trying time.

UPDATE: Latest on Gov. Wolf’s Closure Order amid COVID-19 Outbreak

 As detailed in a special edition of Capitol Buzz sent on Thursday evening, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all “non-life-sustaining” businesses throughout Pennsylvania to physically close their operations in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The new directive, which went into effect at 8 p.m. on Thursday evening, contains the threat of enforcement action
Continue Reading Governor Wolf’s Closure Order

Late last spring we discussed how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) negatively affected development by increasing the costs incurred by developers to install water and wastewater infrastructure (Part I and Part II). Effective January 1, 2018, the TCJA required that water companies include advances for construction (“Advances”) and Contributions in Aid of Construction (“CIAC”) in taxable income. Of course, water companies do not want to incur the tax directly, so it is passed on to developers thereby making their cost to install water and wastewater infrastructure even higher.

On February 28, 2019 the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (“PUC”) granted Pennsylvania American Water’s (“PAW”) Petition for Reconsideration of its order in Docket Nos. R-2018-3002502/R-2018-3002504. The order requires developers or builders to pay for the TCJA-imposed tax on CIAC and Advances. As a result of the PUC’s grant of reconsideration, there was a cautiously optimistic sigh of relief that the PUC might take a broader and deeper look at the positive impact of new development on the entire base of customers and spread the tax to all customers, not just the developer that installed the improvements.
Continue Reading UPDATE! Developers Beware! Water lines may cost more thanks to the Tax Cut and Jobs Act – Part 3 (Potentially good news for developers!)

Pennsylvania’s local governments are on the front lines of providing for the needs and wants, and capturing information about, the likes and dislikes of the communities they serve.  Certainly, the decisions made by local government officials, planners and professional staff are the most likely to directly impact their constituencies’ daily lives because such decisions typically are at a more personal level than those made by state and federal officials.  However, there are state government opportunities and processes that should be considered by local leaders that may support their more pressing priorities for growth and development.

For example, Governor Tom Wolf’s budget address on February 5, 2019 identified many areas of increased focus and related funding that, if approved by the General Assembly later this year, should be primarily available to help Pennsylvania’s local governments meet many of their budgetary requirements.  Although the Governor continues to prioritize education funding, workforce development and new resources for the agricultural industry, many other areas of opportunity exist and are expected to continue to be available after this budget is negotiated.

This is the first in a series of blog posts in which we highlight a sampling of the funding sources planners and local government officials should consider when working with private and public sectors interested in infrastructure improvements, beautification and revitalization, attracting and/or expanding new businesses and industries to the area or, in some cases, trying to retain existing businesses.  This post focuses on the Act 13 suite of programs which is managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (“PA DCED”).
Continue Reading Funding Sources: Working with the Commonwealth to Initiate Development

In an earlier blog post (available here), we discussed how the Commonwealth Court reversed the decision by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (“PUC”) to no longer issue certificates of public convenience to neutral host DAS (i.e. “distributed antenna system”) network operators.  The PUC’s decision was based on its new interpretation of the statutory…

Earlier this year, Claudia Shank blogged about the revival of the Environmental Rights Amendment (the “ERA”) (available HERE) after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Fund v. Commonwealth, 161 A.3d 911 (2017).  The PEDF decision breathed new life into the 1972 amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution, but also left many unanswered questions about the ERA.  The most relevant unanswered question for developers and municipalities was the meaning of the revived ERA in the land use context.  Last week, the Commonwealth Court provided some insight.

In Frederick v. Allegheny Twp. Zoning Hearing Board, 2018 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 593 (Commw. Ct. Oct. 26, 2018), the Court reviewed a substantive validity challenge to a zoning ordinance that permitted oil and gas wells by right in all zoning districts of a township.  In a 5 to 2 decision, an en banc panel rejected the challenge (and the accompanying land use appeal to a zoning permit) that was filed by objectors to an unconventional gas well project in a residential zoning district.  The Court dismissed the objectors’ argument that
Continue Reading The Commonwealth Court Begins to Answer What the Environmental Rights Amendment Means to Land Use

On October 24, 2018, the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners will consider the adoption of Places2040, the new proposed comprehensive plan for Lancaster County.  Prepared by the Lancaster County Planning Commission (“LCPC”) and designed to replace Envision Lancaster County, the County’s current comprehensive plan, Places2040 seeks to establish land use and planning policy to guide the next 20 years of development in Lancaster County. Adoption of the proposed Plan would complete a 3-year planning process that engaged County residents, government entities and targeted stakeholders. Only 94 pages in length, Places2040 is surprisingly concise when compared to typical comprehensive plans and is centered around 5 “Big Ideas”: 1) Creating Great Places; 2) Connecting People, Place & Opportunity; 3) Taking Care of What We Have; 4) Growing Responsibly; and 5) Thinking Beyond Boundaries.

As Lancaster County continues to grow, one of the focuses of the Plan is establishing a path for the County to absorb and accommodate a projected population increase of 100,000 people between 2015 and 2040.  Some of the Plan’s recommendations include
Continue Reading Places2040: Lancaster County to Adopt New Comprehensive Plan

Most of us have heard the “Big Yellow Taxi” song that includes the memorable line “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”  But what if that paradise is not completely lost and communities started reclaiming their paradise by taking a different approach to their parking regulations?  This is the first in a three-post series discussing the current approach to parking regulations and solutions communities, especially urban communities, should consider to “right-size” their parking requirements to reflect a more sustainable approach.

Richard Florida, a well-respected expert in urban studies, recently posted an interesting article entitled Parking Has Eaten American Cities.  In his post, Florida discusses a recent study by Eric Scharnhorst of the Research Institute for Housing America confirming the findings of previous studies “that American cities devote far too much space and far too many resources to parking.” 
Continue Reading Reclaiming “Paradise”: One Parking Space at a Time (Part 1 of 3)

Wireless service providers, such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T, are continually upgrading their networks given the ubiquitous nature of smart phones and the incredible growth of mobile data traffic.  One technology that is being deployed to address this exponential growth and the resulting demand for additional network capacity is distributed antenna system (DAS) networks.  A DAS network is a network of antenna nodes that are deployed to provide wireless coverage to indoor (e.g., arenas, airports, etc.) or outdoor areas.  Some DAS networks are installed by companies that are not wireless service providers and are referred to as neutral host DAS networks since they provide the infrastructure (e.g., antenna nodes, fiber lines, etc.) that carries the wireless traffic of the wireless service providers.

In Pennsylvania, the Public Utility Commission (“PUC”) had recognized neutral host DAS network operators as public utilities and issued certificates of public convenience to the operators since 2005. 
Continue Reading Are Distributed Antenna Networks Public Utilities? The Commonwealth Court Weighs In