Anti-Exclusionary Zoning under Pennsylvania: A Weapon for Developers, A Loss for Low-Income Pennsylvanians

In 1974, seven landowners proposed to develop several thousand units of apartments, townhouses, and mobile homes in Buckingham Township, an outer suburb of Philadelphia. The 1970 census indicated that Buckingham was home to only 5150 residents and 1609 housing units. The proposed housing would have increased the number of Buckingham’s housing units by over 500%. Wealthy and bucolic, Buckingham was just beginning to feel the pressure of increased development and trying to preserve its agricultural heritage. At the time, Buckingham’s zoning allowed for only single-family homes on minimum lot sizes of one acre, which would prohibit the proposed development.

The landowners challenged the zoning under Pennsylvania’s developing exclusionary zoning case law, arguing that the zoning unconstitutionally excluded multifamily housing and mobile homes. Buckingham agreed that its zoning ordinance was unconstitutional under the new law and was in the process of developing a new, comprehensive zoning plan for the township. Buckingham enacted new, non-exclusionary zoning in 1975 and rejected the landowners’ applications for a curative amendment, filed to “cure” the former defective zoning. The landowners sued the township and won; the court held that the new zoning did not apply to the case because the curative amendment was filed before the zoning changes were advertised. The court urged the landowners and the township to negotiate.

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