Marc D. Jonas

Biography

Among his notable accomplishments, Marc Jonas has been named by Best Lawyers in America® the 2023 Lawyer of the Year for Litigation in Land Use and Zoning Law in the Philadelphia Area. He received the same recognition in 2021 and 2018. In 2017, he was Lawyer of the Year for Land Use and Zoning Law in the Philadelphia Area.

Marc is co-chair of the firm's Land Use and Zoning practice group. He has distinguished experience in real estate, land use, municipal law, and zoning matters, representing individuals, businesses, institutions, non-profit organizations and municipalities.

In his extensive career, Marc has appeared as counsel in Pennsylvania state and federal courts in matters involving land use and real estate law.

Marc’s diverse practice has included the representation of developers of residential, commercial, institutional, and religious land uses. He has represented neighbors concerned about the impacts of certain proposed land uses. He has successfully obtained land use approvals despite significant local opposition. His experience and credentials have motivated other attorneys to retain Marc as an expert witness in an assortment of legal matters, ranging from condemnation to family law. Some of his recent accomplishments include:

• Successfully represented Penn State Abington, the Montgomery County campus of Penn State University, in its effort to construct a new academic building on its campus following the township’s enactment of zoning ordinance text and map amendments. The three-story, LEED-certified building, will provide academic space with state-of-the-art classrooms and technology. With over 74,000 ft2, this is the first new building on the campus since the 1970’s.
• Successfully represented commercial real estate developer in its effort to transform a 2-acre infill property in Glenside (Montgomery County) from an existing array of old office buildings into a new mixed-use development of 4-story buildings, comprising apartments, retail space, office space, and related amenities.
• Obtained approval of East Norriton Township (Montgomery County) to both change the zoning of the land and also amend the zoning regulations to permit the construction of a townhouse development. The decisions to amend the zoning ordinance and map paved the way for a development of 40 townhouses that included a significant walkability component along the new interior road and the frontage of the property, as well as a crosswalk to the township park across the street.
• Spanning public hearings over a 2-year period, successfully represented a group of residential landowners opposing the development of a planned residential community in Concord Township (Delaware County). The real estate developer sought tentative approval for the development of 195 apartments and townhomes on a small agricultural farm field contained within a 60 acre parcel of pristine land. Representation included 23 hearings to present an array of expert witnesses and present successful arguments in opposition to the plan.

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Marc serves as Solicitor to the Zoning Hearing Boards of Towamencin, Upper Merion and Lower Salford Townships. He serves as Special Counsel to Straban Township for Litigation matters. Mr. Jonas has been qualified as an expert witness in zoning law in the Courts of Common Pleas of Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester Counties and provided an expert opinion in a federal case arising out of Philadelphia. He has published articles in the Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, the Tri-State Real Estate Journal, Commercial Investment Real Estate Journal, Township Solicitor, The Legal Intelligencer, and The American Bar Association ABA Journal. He was interviewed by Lawyers Weekly USA with regard to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, and was also interviewed by Alan Colmes for the Fox News show Hannity & Colmes regarding the same federal statute (watch video).

Marc previously served as Solicitor to the Montgomery County Development Corporation, a nonprofit corporation established to serve as the administrator for business loan programs offered by the County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He also served for 3 years as Chairman of the Board of the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

Marc offers his professional expertise and experience to work with clients who choose mediation, a form of dispute resolution, to resolve their conflicts outside of the courtroom or town meeting. This approach to resolving issues in real estate, land use and zoning disputes presents significant opportunities for dialog and control in a non-adversarial manner, allowing the parties to maintain a working relationship while lessening or eliminating the areas of conflict in a more informal, and less time-consuming and less expensive process.

For more than 15 years, Marc has served as the chair/co-chair of the Montgomery Bar Association’s Real Estate committee, a committee whose membership includes real estate, municipal, and land use law practitioners. Under his leadership, that committee twice was recognized by the Montgomery Bar Association as the Committee of the Year. He previously served as a member of the Association’s Judiciary Committee which evaluates judicial candidates, and between 2017 and 2019, he served on the Board of Directors of the Montgomery Bar Association.

Memberships

Marc is a member of the Pennsylvania and Montgomery Bar Associations.

Bar Admission

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Education

Marc is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and received his J.D. from its law school in 1972.

Honors and Awards

• Named the Best Lawyers in America® Lawyer of the Year for Litigation in Land Use and Zoning Law in the Philadelphia area, 2023
• Named the Best Lawyers in America® Lawyer of the Year for Litigation in Land Use and Zoning Law in the Philadelphia area, 2021
• Named the Best Lawyers in America® Lawyer of the Year for Litigation in Land Use and Zoning Law in the Philadelphia area, 2018
• Named the Best Lawyers in America® Lawyer of the Year for Land Use and Zoning Law in the Philadelphia area, 2017
• Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the field of Land Use and Zoning law and Litigation in Land Use and Zoning law, 2012 – present
• Selected for inclusion in Real Estate/Land Use law by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2014 - present
• Selected by peers for inclusion in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers magazine, 2004 – present
• Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell

Clerkship Experience

Marc served as a law clerk to President Judge James S. Bowman of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.