J.B.R.C. of Pennsylvania, LLC v. City of Carbondale ZHB and Various Residential Property Owners ( 2016 )


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  •            IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
    :
    J.B.R.C. of Pennsylvania, LLC           :
    : No. 2344 C.D. 2014
    v.                   : Submitted: March 7, 2016
    :
    City of Carbondale                      :
    Zoning Hearing Board                    :
    and Various Residential                 :
    Property Owners,                        :
    :
    Appellants    :
    BEFORE:      HONORABLE P. KEVIN BROBSON, Judge
    HONORABLE JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Senior Judge
    HONORABLE ROCHELLE S. FRIEDMAN, Senior Judge
    OPINION NOT REPORTED
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    BY SENIOR JUDGE FRIEDMAN                               FILED: April 1, 2016
    Various Residential Property Owners (Objectors) appeal from the
    November 21, 2014, order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County
    (trial court), which (1) reversed the decision of the City of Carbondale Zoning
    Hearing Board (ZHB) to deny J.B.R.C. of Pennsylvania, LLC’s (JBRC) application
    for a variance and (2) denied Objectors’ petition to intervene in the case. For the
    reasons that follow, we quash Objectors’ appeal.
    Initially, both the ZHB and Objectors appealed from the trial court’s
    November 21, 2014, order. The only issue raised in the ZHB’s and Objectors’ joint
    brief is whether the trial court erred in reversing the ZHB’s denial of JBRC’s
    application for a variance. The brief does not address the trial court’s denial of
    Objectors’ petition to intervene.
    After the filing of the parties’ briefs, the ZHB filed a praecipe to
    discontinue the appeal.           On January 13, 2016, this court entered an order
    discontinuing the appeal. Thereafter, Objectors filed an application to reinstate the
    appeal. By order dated January 26, 2016, this court reinstated the appeal as to
    Objectors only.
    Objectors are now the only appellants in the case. However, because
    Objectors failed to challenge the denial of their petition to intervene in their brief,
    they have waived any such challenge. See Oliver v. Unemployment Compensation
    Board of Review, 
    5 A.3d 432
    , 440 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2010) (en banc). Moreover, because
    the trial court denied Objectors’ request for intervenor status, Objectors lack standing
    to appeal from the trial court’s reversal of the ZHB’s decision. See In re Barnes
    Foundation, 
    871 A.2d 792
    , 794-95 (Pa. 2005).
    Accordingly, we quash Objectors’ appeal.1
    ___________________________________
    ROCHELLE S. FRIEDMAN, Senior Judge
    1
    On March 11, 2016, after this matter was submitted for consideration on the briefs,
    Objectors filed an emergency application to supplement their brief to address the trial court’s denial
    of their petition to intervene. We note that Objectors had the opportunity to request such relief well
    before the submission date of this matter, as this court reinstated their appeal on January 26, 2016.
    In their emergency application, Objectors stated that they “fully intended to address the intervention
    issue at Oral Argument on Monday[,] March 7, 2016, but were unable to do so due to cancellation
    thereof by the Court.” (Objectors’ Emergency Appl. ¶ 14.) However, as discussed above,
    Objectors would have been precluded from presenting oral argument on the intervention issue
    because they failed to brief that issue before argument. Therefore, we denied Objectors’ emergency
    application on March 22, 2016.
    2
    IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
    :
    J.B.R.C. of Pennsylvania, LLC           :
    : No. 2344 C.D. 2014
    v.                    :
    :
    City of Carbondale                      :
    Zoning Hearing Board                    :
    and Various Residential                 :
    Property Owners,                        :
    :
    Appellants    :
    ORDER
    AND NOW, this 1st day of April, 2016, we hereby quash the appeal of
    Various Residential Property Owners from the November 21, 2014, order of the
    Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County.
    ___________________________________
    ROCHELLE S. FRIEDMAN, Senior Judge
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 2344 C.D. 2014

Judges: Friedman, Senior Judge

Filed Date: 4/1/2016

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 4/5/2016