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Stone v. Kingston4/22/1998
Codorus Stone & Supply Co., Inc. (Codorus) was granted permission by this Court to appeal from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of York County that granted the appeal of Alan C. Kingston from the decision of a Board of View approving an ordinance adopted by the Board of Supervisors (Supervisors) of East Manchester Township (Township) to relocate a road. The common pleas court directed that the matter be returned for an independent determination by a new Board of View after conducting new proceedings in which the record made before the Supervisors would not be made part of the record before the Board of View. Codorus questions whether the common pleas court erred in concluding that an otherwise de novo proceeding before the Board of View was fatally flawed because the Board admitted into evidence the record of the proceedings before the Supervisors.
I.
After conducting several hearings, the Supervisors adopted Ordinance #8-31-94 (Ordinance) on December 31, 1994. It provided for vacating a portion of Dellinger Road and relocating it several hundred yards to the east. Kingston's property abuts on the north a roughly rectangular area, owned by Codorus; the western and northern sides are defined by the present Dellinger Road running straight north from Mundis Race Road and then making a sharp right turn. The Ordinance provides for relocating this portion of Dellinger Road so that it runs north along the eastern side of this rectangle and makes a much less sharp right turn before rejoining the existing road and continuing on in a northeasterly direction.
In January 1995 Kingston filed exceptions to the Ordinance, and the common pleas court appointed a Board of View to review the Ordinance and the exceptions pursuant to the former version of Section 1102 of The Second Class Township Code. The question of whether the Board of View would permit the Township to enter the record made before the Supervisors into evidence in the hearing before the Board of View was the subject of a pre-hearing conference in the summer of 1995, and the Chairman ruled that the Board of View would accept that record. At the hearing before the Board of View on December 13, 1995, the Township entered into evidence, over Kingston's objection, certification that the record made before the Supervisors and docketed with the common pleas court was authentic; it then rested its case.
Kingston called one of the three Supervisors and the Township Engineer, and he then testified. The Board of View heard a total of 10 witnesses, it admitted additional exhibits into the record and counsel presented legal argument and submitted briefs. On October 31, 1996, the Board of View issued its decision, which included 33 numbered findings of fact. The Board of View determined that vacating and relocating the portion of Dellinger Road in question was necessary, because of its substandard and dangerous condition; that the proposal in the Ordinance was financially prudent because Codorus had offered to donate the land and to construct the new road at its cost; and that the Township had complied with applicable provisions of The Second Class Township Code.
Kingston filed exceptions with the common pleas court, seven of which related to his claim that the Board of View improperly admitted the record made before the Supervisors and that, without such evidence, the Township had not met its burden to prove that the relocation was necessary. The common pleas court agreed that a proper de novo proceeding had not taken place before the Board of View and therefore ordered that the matter be returned for an independent determination before a new Board of View. The court amended its order to include a statement
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