Thank you for continuing to follow our Land Use Blog into 2022. Below are the top 5 most viewed posts of 2021. Enjoy!
TOP 5 POSTS OF 2021
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As mentioned before on this blog, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (“PennDOT”) has a plan in place to improve Harrisburg’s Beltway. The I-83 Master Plan is the agency’s effort to address worsening road conditions, high traffic volumes, and safety along the I-83 corridor through Harrisburg. More details about the plan can be found here: I83 Capital Beltway- Home (i-83beltway.com).
The project, like many other initiatives, has been delayed by the pandemic, but PennDOT is now moving forward with its plans to complete Section II and Section III of the Master Plan. The agency has begun its efforts to acquire the land it needs to expand the highway. PennDOT needs to
Continue Reading PennDOT’s Capital Beltway Project Is Moving Forward
A kaleidoscope is an optical instrument that presents an ever-changing view for those looking through it. In many ways, this reminds me of life as a real estate developer in Pennsylvania. The approval process landscape is ever-changing from project to project and municipality to municipality. With every twist of the land use kaleidoscope the path to a successful project looks a little (or a lot) different than the last one.
There are approximately 2,500 municipalities in Pennsylvania. Between 2,100 and 2,200 have their own set of zoning regulations – each different than the other – that shape how land can be developed in that municipality. Think of those zoning regulations as one color of glass inside the kaleidoscope. But picture looking through that kaleidoscope you had as a child – there are multiple colors, right?
Continue Reading Looking Through the Kaleidoscope – Land Use in Pennsylvania
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
“Oh, don’t go that way. You want to avoid the Beltway.” is a common chorus in many American cities. Harrisburg is no exception and backups on its Beltway encroach onto Front Street and other arterial and connector roads on a daily basis. In recent years, the issues have been exasperated as we continue to see populations trending from rural to urban locations while, at the same time, continue to experience aging and weakening transportation infrastructure. But plans to bring relief to Harrisburg’s Beltway have been in the works for 15 years. In 2003, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (“PennDOT”) prepared an I-83 Master Plan, the purpose of which was to identify, plan, and program future transportation improvement projects for the I-83 Capital Beltway. The Master Plan proposed numerous improvements to the Beltway to address: (1) worsening road conditions; (2) high-traffic volumes and congestion; and, (3) safety.
Continue Reading The I-83 Capital Beltway Project: PennDOT’s Right-of-Way Acquisition and Power of Eminent Domain
We’ll soon provide a post on PennDOT’s I-83 Beltway Construction Project, however, we wanted to make sure none of you missed the opportunity to register to gain even more detailed insight from McNees attorneys Kandice Hull and Dana Chilson during their free webinar on January 30, 2019 from 12:00 – 12:45 PM. The title of…
In our first two posts (Part 1 and Part 2), we discussed current approaches used by many communities to regulate parking, factors contributing to those approaches, and how those approaches are not sustainable because they consume large amounts of space and money. Great anecdotal evidence of what we described is provided annually in a post from “Strong Towns” titled “The Best of #BlackFridayParking.” It is worth a look.
In this, our third and final post, we discuss a few solutions communities, especially those seeking to encourage and support mixed use reuse, infill and redevelopment projects, may wish to consider when “right-sizing” their parking regulations. In order to gauge impacts and determine the success of the parking solutions, we suggest limiting the following solutions by area (e.g., parcels, blocks or neighborhoods) or zoning district:
Continue Reading Reclaiming “Paradise”: One Parking Space at a Time (Part 3 of 3)
In our first post of this three-post series on parking (available here) we discussed Richard Florida’s informative, but not surprising, article which states “American cities devote far too much space and far too many resources to parking.” Location, ownership and management of existing parking spaces are significant issues impacting parking in communities, and our first post focused on their impacts based on the current approach to parking regulations taken by most communities. The current approach is unsustainable, as it contributes to sprawl and increases costs. In this post, we will explore some of the factors causing and impacting the current general approach to parking regulations – specifically with respect to urban reuse and mixed-use projects.
More often than not, communities’ parking requirements, located in zoning ordinances, are onerous enough to derail desirable urban reuse and mixed-use projects. Most communities’ requirements generally reflect a more suburban approach to parking that is reflective of planning and development trends of the 1950s and 1960s (i.e., separation of uses with an emphasis on accommodating automobiles).
In reviewing several Pennsylvania “urban” municipal zoning ordinances, a few common parking concepts and provisions become evident.
Continue Reading Reclaiming “Paradise”: One Parking Space at a Time (Part 2 of 3)
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)
