Marc D. Jonas, Esq. Speaks at Delaware County Bar Association
Marc D. Jonas, an Eastburn and Gray attorney, spoke at a seminar sponsored by the Real Estate Practices Committee of the Delaware County Bar Association on March 27, 2026, in Media, Pennsylvania. The focus of the continuing legal education program was the Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA) of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Article I Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution establishes that the citizens of the Commonwealth have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic values of the environment. The ERA declares that Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including future generations, subject to a public trust.
The seminar, “1971 Environmental Rights Amendment to Pennsylvania Constitution – Origins, Evolving Case Law, and Impact Upon Land Use Development,” examined the origins and scope of the ERA, its long dormancy and subsequent revival, and recent applications in land use litigation.
In a highly controversial land use application involving the development of almost 300 acres in Concord Township, Delaware County, Mr. Jonas presented 8 expert witnesses who testified about the significant natural and historic resources of the property and the likely devastation of the property were the property developed as proposed. The claims of Mr. Jonas’ clients included both the failure of the township to enforce its own ordinances, and also the failure of the township to consider its obligation as trustee under the provisions of the ERA. As a result of the evidence offered by Mr. Jonas, the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware Country issued one of the first court orders addressing the ERA. The court remanded the case to Concord Township to perform its trustee obligations required by the ERA.
Mr. Jonas previously served as Chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Commission and for many years has been appointed chair/co-chair of the Montgomery Bar Association Real Estate Committee, a committee comprised of attorneys practicing municipal, land use, and real estate transactional law.
Mr. Jonas is a shareholder and co-chair of the land use and zoning practice group at Eastburn and Gray, PC. He has extensive experience in real estate, land use, municipal law, and zoning matters, representing individuals, businesses, institutions, non-profit organizations, and municipal boards. He has appeared as counsel in Pennsylvania state and federal courts in matters involving land use and real estate law. His diverse practice has included the representation of developers of residential, commercial, institutional, and religious land uses.
Mr. Jonas is routinely recognized by and included in legal publications and rankings including, Best Lawyers in America®, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and Pennsylvania Super Lawyers®.