The following are recent Pennsylvania court cases of note to real estate law practitioners.

In Gates v. City of Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission, 716 C.D. 2020 (2021), the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court concluded that the owners of properties located approximately two blocks from a property for which the owner had requested Historic Review Commission approval for certain exterior renovations were not “aggrieved parties” and lacked standing to bring a zoning appeal. Chris Gates and Stephen Pascal are the owners of several properties along Cedar Avenue in the city of Pittsburgh’s Deutschtown Historic District. Located approximately one tenth of a mile from these properties is a single-family home titled in James and Eve Elsen’s name. The city’s code of ordinance provides that, before any renovations can be made to the exterior of a home in any historic district, the city’s Historic Review Commission must evaluate the case. At the hearing, the Elsens presented evidence that the home was not of a design similar to other homes within the district, and that the new widows would mirror the design and style of the current widows. Gates and Pascal appeared at the hearing and testified in opposition to the application, asserting that applicable regulations for the district required that all exterior windows be wooden. The commission granted the Elsens’ application, and Gates and Pascal appealed to the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, which quashed their appeal based on a lack of standing. On appeal, the Commonwealth Court affirmed, reasoning that, since the home was not visible from any of the properties that Gates and Pascal owned in the district, Gates and Pascal had no interest in the commission’s decision, were not “aggrieved parties,” and had no standing to file an appeal.