Township has changed zoning regulations on us!

[paperson]

Hello,

I am a resident of Pennsylvania and am in the midst of selling my house that I have lived in for the past eight years. A potential buyer recently asked us for the number of horses/animals that are allowed to be on the property. To ensure I was giving valid up-to-date information I went to the township to verify the requested information.

To my dismay they are now telling us that due to new regulations going into place as soon as the property changes ownership no animals (livestock) are allowed at all. This significantly diminishes the value of the home and the huge barn as it renders the barn useless for the most part beyond storage.

It is a two acre property and other neighbors in the community have the same amount of land and have animals as well. We currently have sheep, goats, and chickens.

What can be done about this, if anything? We were never notified of the changes before we put our house on the market many months ago, and still have not formally been notified.

Any help/advice/guidance would be significantly appreciated!

 

[justalayman]

Do you attend your twnshp board meetings? Do you read the legals posted in the newspaper?

That is where you would have been notified of a zoning change and that would have been after a meeting or two discussing it, then time to research it, then a meeting where it would be voted on, then published as required by law.

You seem to have missed all of those steps somehow.

Now what you have is the neighbors and you are grandfathered in under the old ordinance and when the properties are sold, they will be subject to the new ordinance just like yours will be.

The time to do something about this was when it was being discussed at your township board meetings.

 

[FarmerJ]

unfortunately It is too late now and not worth the fight to try to undo the local ord unless it is so badly flawed that your twp would be at high risk of lawsuit. Many Twp boards often consult with county atty office or adopt ords that county has already reviewed for other Twps or cities. With encroaching suburbia expect more of the same things. The same basic ords have been written in many growing burbs to my south.

 

[jimmler]

You may be out of luck, but did you talk to the head of the department, or a person at the front counter. If the latter, I would go back and talk to the person in charge to verify the information you were given, sometimes you can get inaccurate info from the counter person that is there to help people who walk in.

Good luck!

 

[FarmerJ]

Additional , you know if you dont have city water- sewer now and are on private well/septic expect changes in that area of your twp govt too. AS more and more homes are built in areas that were in what can be called exurbia and now becoming suburbia, Ground water contamination occurs more frequently and county govts begin mandating improvements to septic systems many times where either buyer or seller must take responsibility for the upgrade. OR in some cases flat out sewer or city water or both being brought into areas that meet certain population densitys. SO inspite of the new local ord it may well be a good time to go farther out getting 10 / 20 acres so you will have the room and lower chance of seeing new ords again limiting or restricting animals from property. Then when you are in new place farther out go to every twp board meeting. voice your opinions, those people are elected too and they know they can be replaced.