Sep 29, 2015

Marc D. Jonas, Esquire Defeats Zoning Challenge to Lackawanna County Landfill Expansion

Jonas_MMichael E. PetersAfter months of contentious hearings, Marc D. Jonas, Esquire, led the successful legal effort to defeat a zoning challenge by disgruntled residents and their anti-landfill civic association seeking to stop the expansion of the Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. The legal team for Keystone Landfill also included Jeffrey Belardi of Belardi Law Offices, and Michael E. Peters, Esquire, from Eastburn and Gray.

The key issue in the neighbor’s appeal was the determination of the borough zoning officer that the landfill’s proposed vertical expansion was not prohibited by the borough zoning ordinance. The zoning hearing board decision upheld the determination of the zoning officer. The zoning hearing board also concluded, as asserted by the Keystone legal team, that the residents lacked the legal standing to have filed the appeal to the zoning hearing board, due to the location of their residences, and their failure to present evidence of a substantial, direct, and immediate interest. As a result of the objection of the Keystone legal team, the zoning hearing board refused to hear the testimony of the residents’ expert witness.

The decision of the zoning hearing board is a significant victory for Keystone Sanitary Landfill. The landfill, permitted by zoning, has received state permits since 1972, and has a permitted area of 714 acres, 398 of which are located in Dunmore Borough.

Mr. Jonas has been named a Leader in Real Estate/Land Use law by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. His peers have recognized him as a Pennsylvania “Super Lawyer,” and he has been selected repeatedly by U.S. News as a “Best Lawyer” in both Land Use and Zoning Law and Land Use and Zoning litigation for the Philadelphia Metropolitan area.

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